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A group of student activists have come close to ensure there will never be a child bent over a sewing machine producing SIUC apparel for pennies a day.
Students for Peace and Democracy, a registered student organization at SIUC, recently received word from interim Chancellor John Dunn that the university will soon sign on with the Worker Rights Consortium, a goal the student group has worked towards for more than a year.
Organization member Jeremy Baiman, a senior from Oak Park in political science, said the contract is meant to make certain that all factories licensed to create official SIUC apparel abide by a code of conduct pertaining to worker rights.
No date has been set for the signing, but Dunn said it was a necessary step for the university.
"Fairness and social justice are high values for the university," Dunn said. "This is clearly the right thing to do."
Dunn said signing the contract would also show the university's international students that SIUC recognizes it is part of a global community.
The contract says the university is bound to disclose all licensees producing goods emblazoned with the SIUC name or logo. The licensees are then to be investigated by the consortium and given a time frame to conform to its standards if they are in violation.
If a licensee fails to comply, the contract says the university "reserves its right" to terminate its relationship with the business.
The standards outlined in the contract include wages and benefits, working hours, women's rights, health and safety, and nondiscrimination.
"We think this contract represents both the strongest defense of worker rights and the most well thought out, professionally put together package we could hand over to the school administration," Baiman said.
He said the contract was created by the group of lawyers, human rights investigators and representatives from various universities that make up the consortium.
More than 150 colleges and universities across the country are members of the Workers Rights Consortium, according to the organization's Web site. Three University of Illinois campuses, Northern Illinois University and Harvard University are among the schools that have signed contracts.
Saluki athletics spokesman Mike Trude said it is impossible to estimate how much SIUC merchandise is sold in stores every year, but 160 businesses paid royalties in the past six months to use the SIUC name.
Baim said there is no institutional mechanism to ensure that sweatshop-like conditions don't exist in clothing factories.
The conditions still exist in many countries, including the United States, according to the National Labor Committee's Web site.
cklarer@siu.edu 536-3311 ext. 267
