Cornell administrators are fulfilling a promise regarding full public disclosure of the names of factories where apparel bearing Cornell names and images is produced. In a meeting with Cornell Students Against Sweatshops (SAS) Feb. 10, the university shared an initial listing of almost 800 factory locations worldwide for more than 100 Cornell licensees.
The 66-page report was prepared at Cornell's request by the university's licensing agent, the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC). Henrik N. Dullea, vice president for university relations, said: "This is an excellent start that includes information about factory locations from large corporations, such as Champion, to smaller, less well-known firms."
Dullea and other administrators have been meeting frequently with leadership from the campus SAS chapter for more than two years to exchange ideas and to provide support for a shared objective -- the elimination of sweatshops in the manufacture of products bearing the Cornell name. "These meetings continue to be productive because we share that mutual goal. While we might differ from time to time on some issues, we continue to work together on the substance and principles," Dullea said.
"First and foremost among our shared goals has been the full, public disclosure of factory locations. I'm pleased to report that our efforts are proving to be successful," he said.
Dullea said the combined efforts of student activists, col-leges and universities, members of the CLC consortium and other licensing groups have provided the pressure that resulted in Champion, Gear for Sports, Nike and other corporations reversing their previous positions regarding disclosure.
David Unger, president of Cornell SAS, told the Cornell Daily Sun this week, "Disclosure is incredible. This is a big victory. We applaud the university for following through with one of the principles set." Unger and other Cornell students participated in a two-day hunger strike earlier in the week in support of student counterparts at the University of Pennsylvania. The Penn students have been occupying the president's office in a dispute over Penn's membership in the Fair Labor Association (FLA).
Cornell administrators have asked the SAS leadership to review the list and to provide information its members might have concerning these factory locations. In turn, that information will be shared with CLC and FLA, which includes 131 colleges and universities nationwide. Among its activities, FLA is reviewing standards for the accreditation of monitors and for inspections that monitors eventually will conduct.
Earlier this year, Cornell joined with other members of the Ivy League to fund the University Monitoring Training Project, which will be undertaken by the widely respected International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF). In addition, CLC has launched a pilot monitoring program in Costa Rica, India, Korea and Mexico using the monitoring organization Verite.
Cornell joined FLA, Dullea explained, because of its "strong position on and serious commitment to effective, independent monitoring and verification." For example, Dullea said, FLA will require both internal monitoring by companies as well as external monitoring by accredited independent monitors that include local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). "That is critical to the next important steps -- compliance with monitoring and verification, and subsequent corrective measures -- to ensure that items bearing Cornell names and marks are made under safe and humane conditions," he said.
Dullea said colleges have played a central role in FLA development by gaining unanimous agreement of the FLA board to include a number of women's rights provisions in monitoring guidelines, helping shape accreditation and other monitoring guidelines and sponsoring several pilot projects for NGO participation in monitoring.
According to Dullea, putting an end to sweatshop conditions involves much more than a debate over membership in FLA vs. the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), a group that is supported by SAS.
Unger, a sophomore in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said FLA has "flaws." He said the WRC monitoring system relies completely on NGOs and does not include corporate accounting firms, adding that joining the WRC "is a necessary next step" for Cornell.
At the request of the Cornell SAS, university administrators will take a close look at the WRC and additional related information that students presented at the Feb. 10 meeting. In addition, SAS has accepted an invitation from the administration to prepare an initial draft of additional language for the university to consider in its continued communication to manufacturers licensed by Cornell. They meet again Feb. 22.
Dullea said members of the campus community can become more aware of where collegiate apparel is manufactured and could ask retailers a simple question: "Where was this item manufactured?" He said retailers need to know that the public cares about where a sweatshirt, T-shirt or cap is made, whether it bears Cornell's name or the logo of a manufacturer.
"Substantial progress has been made both here on campus and across the nation, and we will continue to work with Cornell Students Against Sweatshops to make measurable progress toward the elimination of sweatshops," Dullea said.
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