USC is currently affiliated with the factory monitoring organization known as the Fair Labor Association (FLA). SCALE urges the University to co-affiliate with another organization: the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC).
FLA:
The Fair Labor Association (FLA) was created out of a task force established in 1998 by the
Clinton Administration following the Kathie Lee crisis. The Apparel Industry Partnership “brought
together apparel and footwear companies, human rights groups, labor unions [initially], religious
organizations, consumer advocates, and universities to work collaboratively to protect workers
worldwide and to give consumers the information they need to make informed purchasing
decisions,” according to the FLA website (www.fairlabor.org). The process of creating FLA was
contentious from the start. When it became clear that the corporations involved were not willing to
take a stand on wage levels (specifically, on requiring all employers to pay a “living wage”), the
labor unions in the Partnership withdrew their support.
FLA is mainly concerned with certifying corporations (and publicizing that certification)
that have essentially eliminated “sweated” labor. Its strategy is to get corporations to join the
association and then requiring them to monitor their own factories around the world for adherence
to a code of conduct determined collectively by the members of the Association. It also accredits
(or will—this has not actually started) external monitors who are to visit some sample of member
corporations’ factories periodically and verify code adherence. FLA’s code of conduct (check the
web site for details) includes the abolition of: child labor, “discrimination,” hazardous working
conditions, intimidation of workers trying to organize unions, and mandatory overtime. The hope is
that by pressuring companies to monitor themselves and by encouraging consumers to purchase
only goods produced by member companies in compliance with the code, the apparel/footwear
industry as a whole will begin to reform.
FLA is run by a board. Six seats on this board are held by corporations. Six seats are held
by NGO’s (and I couldn’t really discover how these NGO’s are selected; they are supposed to have
some connection to workers but this seemed rather vague; maybe someone else knows about this).
University members have a single seat on the board. There is also a president and a chairman (who
has one seat). This board makes all decisions regarding certification, monitor accreditation and so
forth. FLA will ultimately be funded almost entirely by corporations.
WRC:
The Workers’ Rights Consortium was created more recently (last summer) by the national
student group, United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) in association with workers’
organizations and several human rights groups. It was formed independently of corporations and in
direct response to the FLA. Unlike the FLA, which plans to deal with the entire apparel/footwear
industry, WRA plans to focus exclusively on the part of the industry producing college apparel.
Like FLA, WRC plans to monitor corporations and pressure them to adhere to a code of conduct. Its code of conduct is similar to that of FLA on some issues such as child labor. But it
goes much further by demanding that workers be paid a “living wage” (probably the most crucial
and contentious difference), that women workers have equal opportunity and pay to men as well as
the right to maternity leave and reproductive freedom, and that corporations fully disclose the
locations of their factories (a provision explicitly opposed by FLA members on the grounds that
company secrets can then be stolen).
The WRC’s monitoring plan is a bit vague yet but will rely on two things: independent
follow up to worker complaints and external, independent, non-corporate “spot checking.”
The success of WRC depends heavily on whether or not workers can and will make specific
complaints about company’s adherence to codes of conduct and on local organizations’ ability and
willingness to follow up on such complaints and support workers’ efforts. The “spot checking”
strategy does not seem to be fully worked out yet but will also rely heavily on local organizations as
well as on labor experts.
Corporations cannot be members of WRC. Universities, workers and NGO’s determine the
code of conduct. Universities in the WRC must be willing to “punish” companies that do not
adhere to the code of conduct, if necessary by rescinding their licensing contracts with them,
although the WRC hopes that that will be necessary only in extreme cases. The WRC has yet to
fully work out its funding mechanism but university profits from logo licensing will be a major
source of support, at least initially.
The University can help improve the conditions in these factories by adopting the comprehensive Sweat Free USC Initiative:
