Task Force investigates ND, WRC
By CHRISTINE KRALY
Associate News Editor
After a morning meeting discussing the issue, the University's Task Force on Anti-Sweatshop Initiatives made a recommendation Friday to University President Father Edward Malloy on whether or not to join the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC).
The task force is not releasing their recommendation until Malloy announces his decision, scheduled for March 8. Task force members are appointed to give advice directly to Malloy and will not share their recommendations until after he has a chance to look them over, said task force chair Bill Hoye.
The WRC is a group of 67 colleges and universities working as a watchdog to fight factory sweatshop conditions.
Task force members met Friday morning to decide on a recommendation and submitted their proposal later that day. Two members of the group were unable to attend the meeting, Hoye said, but enough voting members were present to make a recommendation.
There are several non-voting members on the task force, including corporate members adidas, Champion and Follett, which services the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore.
"We're a Catholic university, and if we're going to strive to represent our beliefs and live up to our mission statement, it's important we're [in an organization that promotes our goal]," said Sarah Greeman, a member of the Progressive Student Alliance (PSA).
The PSA has lobbied for Notre Dame to join the 67 other schools that are WRC members through protests, informational meetings and petitions.
"As far as I know, there are only a couple problems the University has [with joining the WRC]," said Greeman. One problem is financial, she said, noting that the task force is allotted a certain amount of money and much of that money is currently going to FLA dues.
Members of the WRC pay dues equal to 1 percent of that school's licensing revenues. The University doesn't produce its own apparel, Hoye said, therefore money is made from licensing the Notre Dame trademark to apparel manufacturers.
Notre Dame is usually ranked first or second in the country in licensing revenues, Hoye added.
"It's a very hard time because it's midterm week," Greeman said of the task force's meeting. She called the meeting and Malloy's decision date "really bad timing" since spring break will leave few students on campus to lobby for the WRC.
The task force was appointed by Malloy two years ago to investigate Notre Dame's relationship with sweatshop apparel manufacturing and to make recommendations to Malloy regarding plans of action.
Task force members met almost a year ago to start gathering information about the WRC. Since then the group has had numerous meetings regarding joining the consortium, one with the WRC Feb. 5. The group paid to fly members of the WRC to campus for the meeting.
After learning of the task force's talk, the PSA had an emergency meeting Friday afternoon to discuss a plan of action in convincing the University to join the WRC. Since the task force just advises and it is Malloy's final decision whether or not to join, PSA members figured they still have a chance to directly lobby to the University president.
The group mailed a proposal requesting to meet with Malloy to talk about the WRC Friday afternoon. If the PSA doesn't get a response soon, members will probably go forward to Malloy's office and directly ask for a meeting, Greeman said.
The WRC is "getting their feet wet" in fighting for good medical care, facilities and equal pay for workers, Greeman said. "The University has one of the most progressive right to organize clauses in their code of conduct."
It makes sense to join the WRC because of this, she said. Notre Dame currently belongs to the FLA, an organization created with the backing of then-President Bill Clinton's administration to address alleged abuses in the apparel industry, including sweatshop labor.
All News Stories for Monday, March 5, 2001
