University asks licensees for full public disclosure
By TIM LOGAN
News Editor
In an unexpected move, the University asked its 235 licensed apparel manufacturers to publicly disclose the locations of factories where Notre Dame products are made.
Notre Dame is the 14th university in the country to ask its licensees for full public disclosure, which has become a leading demand of student activists nationwide.
William Hoye, chair of the University's Task Force on Anti-Sweatshop Initiatives, calls the move a reaffirmation of Notre Dame's strong stance against labor abuses in manufacturing licensed apparel.
"Public disclosure has become an important issue in the national debate to a lot of people," Hoye said. "I hope [the request] will demonstrate the University's commitment to the sweatshop issue."
In March, Notre Dame became the first university to hire an independent firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, to monitor conditions at licensed factories. It also created a task force to study the issue and recommend a policy to deal with labor abuses.
This latest request was a recommendation of that Task Force, according to Hoye.
Student activists praised the move, calling it a reversal of the administration's previous position.
"We're really happy," said Aaron Kreider of the Progressive Student Alliance.
But at the same time, they asked the University to take an even stronger stance on the issue.
"Our administration likes to preach that Notre Dame is leading the fight against sweatshops," said Joe Smith of the PSA. "But in fact this decision puts us in approximately 14th place. It's a big reversal, but we have a long way to go."
Given past statements by University administrators, the move was unexpected, but perhaps should not have been.
"It definitely comes as a surprise," Kreider said. "It also seemed inevitable because other universities are doing it."
Experts in the field of labor rights also said the decision was a step in the right direction. If companies are going to enforce their codes of conduct, good monitoring is required, said Father Oliver Williams, an associate professor of management who specializes in labor ethics.
"I think it's absolutely essential," he said. "Having a code of conduct is meaningless unless you have monitoring. And you can't monitor factories if you don't know where they are."
In February, University vice president and general counsel Carol Kaesebier told The Observer that Notre Dame would not disclose the locations of licensee factories. University officials gathered that information in order to implement the monitoring system with PricewaterhouseCoopers, but they had no intention of publicizing their findings.
"The University will use this information to monitor the licensees. There is no need to publicly disclose [it]," she said in February. "It is a matter of competitiveness for the manufacturers."
Hoye stressed that this week's move is not a reversal of that policy, as Notre Dame itself is not releasing the locations, it is simply asking its licensees to do so.
"We don't think it would be appropriate to collect that information and then turn around and disclose it to the public," he said. "Our position on that has not changed."
Notre Dame's policy towards licensed manufacturers may continue to change in the future, he said, as the Task Force will continue to debate the issue. The group will present University president Father Edward Malloy with a set of recommendations at the end of the semester, Hoye said, including suggestions for a policy on the right to organize and a model for factory monitoring,
Monitoring, not disclosure, Hoye said, is the most important part of code of conduct enforcement.
"My sense is that public disclosure may not do as much as monitoring to help improve workers' lives, but at the same time, many constituencies have been calling for public disclosure and it's something that's important to them," he said.
Three of the largest manufacturers — Champion, adidas and Gear for Sports — have agreed to disclose factory locations for Notre Dame apparel. Gear had agreed to do so earlier and Champion announced its decision for full disclosure this week.
Both of those companies will have a list of their factories published by January.
"We are providing all our collegiate bookstore customers with the locations of our manufacturing facilities so that they can reassure their students of Champion's commitment to ethical workplace philosophies," said Michael Flatow, Champion's president and chief executive officer.
Champion and adidas are the two nonvoting, licensee members of the Task Force.
Hoye said he would like to see all of the companies that manufacture Notre Dame apparel follow their lead.
"Our hope is that all of our licensees will respond to the request positively, like Champion and adidas have," he said.
All News Stories for Thursday, November 18, 1999
