Sweat Free CAMPUS CAMPAIGN

Though universities have adopted anti-sweatshop policies, the reality is that university apparel is still made under sweatshop conditions in factories around the world.

• Sweatshop conditions and poverty wages: Workers making university apparel face abusive treatment, excessive working hours, dangerous conditions, and wages that are inadequate to meet basic needs.
• Illegal repression: When workers organize and demand improvements, they are subject to threats, harassment, illegal firings, and the closure of their factories.
• The race to the bottom: As multinational brands scan the globe for the cheapest products, supplier factories face tremendous pressure to keep costs to a bare minimum. In this reality, workers and their unions have little hope of winning the wages and conditions they need.

The Solution!

University apparel should be made in designated sweat-free factories, where workers have a voice on the job to stop sweatshop abuses and earn a living wage.

• A voice on the job: The best way to eliminate sweatshops is for workers to have the power to advocate for their interests on a daily basis through the collective voice of a union. University products must be made in factories where workers have this voice to eliminate sweatshop abuses.
• A living wage: The prices paid by U.S. clothing companies are simply too low for factories to pay workers enough to meet their basic needs. In order for workers to earn the income they need, we must require brands to pay the designated factories prices high enough to enable living wages.
• An alternative to the Wal-Mart model: Currently, most university apparel is produced in the same factories that produce for big box retailers like Wal-Mart, and under the sweatshop conditions that Wal-Mart has established as norms for the industry. We must create an alternative model -- a race to the top -- in which university apparel is produced in factories that demonstrate respect for worker rights (not just low prices) and in which worker victories are sustained and protected.

For almost ten years, United Students Against Sweatshops has been an international leader in the fight against sweatshops here in the United States and abroad. Learn more about the sweat free movement at www.studentsagainstsweatshops.org.