Word: laborer
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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First, what are the actual conditions in the factories that make Harvard-licensed clothing? We hear sometimes-conflicting reports from students and organized labor on the one hand, and from the licensees themselves on the other. It is difficult to sit in Cambridge and try to get an accurate picture of conditions in El Salvador, China or Indonesia, where many of these items are actually cut, sewn and screened, and we cannot responsibly try to institute change without knowing what needs changing...
Second, what can Harvard or other universities actually do to improve conditions that need improving? Students and organized labor urge that we stop doing business with companies that do not adhere to responsible manufacturing practices, but terminating a contract does not by itself improve any worker's situation. The threat of termination only works if it induces manufacturers to improve conditions themselves. Would such threats be effective? Who are the responsible manufacturers out there who operate safe and humane workplaces, to whom we could switch our business? Most licensees already have codes of responsible conduct. Are they effective or just...
Other efforts are being made in other quarters to this end. For example, this week a nonprofit endeavor known as the Fair Labor Association (FLA) urged universities to join in its efforts, and Harvard has agreed to do so. The FLA may or may not prove itself able to devise effective solutions, but we support its attempts even as we pursue other avenues. We don't know where answers will eventually be found, but we are determined to pursue these important questions as seriously as we can. Allan A. Ryan Jr. is an attorney in Harvard's Office of General...
Members of the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM) held a sit-in outside the Science Center yesterday afternoon to demand the implementation of a living wage for those who make Harvard clothing...
...held in support of the Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality (SOLE) at the University of Michigan, a student group that is rallying for a living wage and disclosure of the locations of factories that manufacture University of Michigan clothing...