Last night, Student Council unanimously passed FR02-4: "A Resolution to Ensure that No U.Va. Apparel is Manufactured in Sweatshops."
The resolution urges the University to join the Fair Labor Association and the Workers Rights Consortium to ensure factory compliance with labor code standards.
The cost of membership to these two monitoring organizations will total approximately $11,000 and will be funded from University licensing revenue, said Lela Graham, a representative from the School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
Graham and College Rep. Brandon Possin and co-sponsored the resolution.
"The reason I'm interested in this is because I buy a lot of U.Va. apparel, and I want to be sure it's not manufactured in sweatshops," Graham said.
The issue originally was brought to Council's attention by Brandon Leonard, president of the University Chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops, during the community concerns portion of a Council meeting.
"The University of Virginia adopted the Collegiate Licensing Company's Labor Code Standards in January of 2001, pledging to improve working conditions while upholding basic human rights at the factories that manufacture its apparel," the resolution said. "These workplace standards include outlawing child labor, nondiscrimination, and women's rights."
The University now has no way of monitoring whether these standards are upheld in the factories that manufacture their apparel.
"I was very pleased with the passage of the resolution," Leonard said. "I think it's a major step in making the administration aware of student concern on this issue."
Council originally planned to vote on the resolution at its Nov. 12 meeting, but the body passed a motion to postpone the vote for a week, so further research could be performed and presented.
"If we passed this resolution now, it would be a disservice to the cause," Architecture Rep. Kevin Hanlon said at last week'sCouncil meeting.
Possin and Graham added specific amendments to the resolution that were subsequently passed by the representative body, followed by the passage of the resolution in its entirety.
University Bookstore Director Jon Kates spoke during the community concerns portion of last night's meeting to make a case in favor of joining with both the FLA and WRC.
"It seems particularly important for us to have a clearer line of monitoring," Kates said. "If we were members of FLA and WRC, communications would be enhanced."
The resolution passed without debate following the addition of amendments.
"I think that the unanimous vote among Student Council reps shows the near consensus that students want the University to join the FLA and WRC," Possin said.
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