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Congratulations and Goodbye to Our Graduating Seniors!
 May 09 2008
We are very sad to see our graduating SCALE members leave! Good bye to David, Shaun and Nate. Here is a tribute to you: David is going to teach high school science up in Oakland.  Nate is going to work at some fancy music company.  Shaun is going to be the new Development Coordinator for United Students Against Sweatshops!  Congratulations! I am sure SCALE helped build your resumes. We love you and will be watching you:  UNITED STUDENTS AGAINST SWEATSHOPS SUMMER CONFERENCE 2008
May 09 2008
This summer, hundreds of students from throughout the US and Canada will be gathering in Boulder, Colorado for the United Students Against Sweatshops summer conference. Still Going Strong!
May 09 2008
Hi all,          ***************** Dear President Sample and Senior Vice President Dickey, S.C.A.L.E. students were understandably dismayed two weeks ago when the university administration completely repudiated the gains made over the course of more than six months of negotiations concerning a genuine commitment to the Designated Suppliers Program. At this time, we would like to make it clear that we feel as if we have been mislead for the past six months, that we find your administration’s tactics deplorable, and that we do not appreciate being treated with such irreverence and disrespect. Over the past year, S.C.A.L.E. has engaged in constructive, substantive negotiations with the USC administration. Not more than three weeks ago, these negotiations had resulted in a letter that stated USC’s commitment to work seriously toward implementing the DSP, as well as adherence to its principles. Suddenly and unexpectedly, after all parties involved had agreed upon a letter that needed nothing more than to be made public, your administration reversed its position on virtually all negotiated points. Senior Vice President Todd Dickey did not attend the March 24 meeting, and his absence had not been announced prior to the meeting. Instead, Secretary of the University Carol Mauch Amir and Director of Trademarks and Licensing Elizabeth Kennedy introduced new information that had never been communicated to concerned students, faculty, and clergy people, and also very seriously brought into question the university’s commitment to human rights and bargaining in good faith. For the first time, Amir and Kennedy declared that: • USC must contact each of its licensees before the letter can be sent out. • USC cannot agree to commit to the DSP because the WRC might "blow up" within the next month. • There is no real DSP to be implemented and USC does not want its licensees to think the university is going to implement it. • President Sample and his entire cabinet must agree to the letter before it is publicly released. Not only had these concerns never been communicated to us before, but the university administration refused to contact licensees within a specified period of time, and refused to commit to sending the agreed upon letter once licensees had been contacted. We perceive these actions to be a backhanded, deliberate attempt to derail the whole process of committing to a legal DSP. We can do nothing more than assume that this was the administration's plan during the entire course of negotiations. The fact that Senior Vice President Dickey was not even present at the meeting is evidence of further disrespect. Despite these events, S.C.A.L.E. is willing to continue dialogue with the administration, provided that they are serious and constructive. We are not willing to be misled, ridiculed, or disrespected. We are serious and concerned about our university's labor policies and want to ensure that the people who produce USC apparel are treated fairly and paid appropriately. These are not extreme demands. Many other universities have seen fit to affiliate with the Worker Rights Consortium and commit to the DSP as a matter of university policy. It is important to remember that the DSP is still a work in progress, and that signing on to it allows USC a voice in its direction and implementation. It provides the university with a meaningful way to ensure that the workers who are making products for our school are being treated fairly. We hope that future meetings are constructive and take into account the serious and urgent concerns of the larger USC community that the administration is meant to serve and represent. We look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, The Student Coalition Against Labor Exploitation Silent Rally @ Thursday, 4/26
Apr 24 2007
 After administration had been stalling for eight years, through two sit-ins and numerous rallies, SCALE finally gets a meeting with President Sample. Thursday, April 26 at 10 a.m., four university administrators, three representatives from Student Gov't and three SCALE members will finally sit down together in the same room. We believe that eight years is enough. Since 1999, multiple union factories and cooperatives have shut down, leaving thousands of workers unemployed and unable to supply for their families. As long as USC is benefiting from this labor, it needs to live up to its own Code of Ethics and support workers when it can, by adopting the Designated Suppliers Program. This has proved to be such an urgent problem for a which a decision needs to be made that the President of the Los Angeles City Council has called for his own meeting with Sample to express his concern. Furthermore, Sample has refused to make this meeting open to faculty members, grad students, and other members of the community who have been waiting for an explanation. We believe that Sample must be accountable to all concerned parties, not just three SCALE members. Therefore, faculty have initiated a letter requesting an open meeting and will be holding a silent rally simultaneously outside. I know its early, but this is amongst our most important events this year! Outside of Bovard Auditorium. BE THERE! This event will be happening simultaneously with a meeting SCALE will be having with President SAMPLE!!! We are trying to get him to make a decisive decision after 8 years regarding Trojan apparel being made in sweatshops. Silence can be just as powerful as chanting - either way we are advocating peace and not passivity. PS Bring a favorite activism/labor issue related quote to add to our "Silent Words Speak Out" board. Wear a SCALE shirt if you can; we want to demonstrate the number of students concerned about the labor conditions used to make USC apparel. CALL PRESIDENT SAMPLE FOR JUSTICE
Apr 15 2007
On April 10th, 13 students staged a sit in at USC to demand that, after an eight year campaign, the university affiliate with the WRC and adopt the DSP. Instead of meeting with the students and listening to them, their administration lied to them, claimed to have been at meetings with students that never existed, locked out their legal observers, manipulated their parents, and, at 5 pm, threatened them with suspension and demanded that they move out of university housing by 9 am the next morning. Please call and email President Sample today and tell him that this is no way to treat students and workers! On April 10 and April 11, hundreds of phone calls came into the office, urging USC to adopt the DSP instead of suspending students. The USC administration called the national offices of United Students Against Sweatshops asking them to have students across the nation stop calling. USAS said it would stop once USC apologizes to students and adopts the DSP. Please call President Sample (213) 740 - 2111
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