Published: Wed, May 12, 2010

Updated: Wed, May 12, 2010

Robert Barrett

[Ed. Note: Sarah is the co-president of Oxfam UT, a student organization trying to find lasting and sustainable solutions to hunger, poverty and social injustice.]

University Co-Op, Austin, TX, USA:

A college student scans the racks of t-shirts, then spots a possibility: It's burnt orange, with a white Longhorn in the upper left corner and the words "Texas Fight" emblazoned across the back. It'll do. Really, she just needs something burnt orange; there's a football game tonight. She grabs her size and heads to the dressing room. It fits. Placing the shirt back on its hanger, she sees a label stitched inside the collar--"Made in Honduras," it reads, right under a Nike swish logo. It's a label she sees regularly. She heads over to the register and pays. $18.99 plus tax may be a bit steep for a few yards of cotton, but she chalks it up as an "educational" expense.

AAA-Factory, Choloma Free Trade Zone, Honduras:

Twenty years old, a woman sews the side seams of a Nike T-shirt. Her supervisor stands behind her, making sure she keeps time: 2.7 shirts a minute. This is her seventh day of work this week; the factory hasn't been meeting production quotas, so managers have forced everyone to work though the weekend. At lunch, she'll have ten minutes to eat. The factory is searingly hot, and sweat pours off her face, but she tries not to drink too much of the factory water--it's unsafe. She will work 11 hours today, earning $6.88 for her labor, then go home to a one-room shack without running water. Her wage won't get her much--in fact, she’ll have to borrow money to buy the most basic necessities.

For most UT apparel owners, these two scenarios are worlds apart. The only cost for them is the price they pay at the register.

But if the average American opened his closet and took note of the labels on each piece of clothing, he would find that the majority of those labels are similar to those found in Nike T-shirts: "Made in China," "Made in Honduras," "Made in India." For Longhorn fans, this trend extends to their UT apparel; those burnt orange t-shirts, sweatshirts and hats we wear so regularly are largely made in developing countries. Indeed, this is the norm.

In and of itself, this is not a bad thing; oftentimes, transnational corporations bring needed jobs to developing countries. Rather, the problem lies in the companies' treatment of workers. In the developing world, garment industry workers rarely receive a living wage, are intimidated or fired if they try to unionize, are sometimes denied wages, are forced to work long hours in dangerous conditions and are generally treated without dignity.

In particular, Nike and Russell, both producers of UT apparel, have bad human rights records. In China, Nike subcontracts with Yue Yuen factories; the factories manufacture nearly one-third of Nike's shoes. As recently as 2008, workers were clocking 10- to 12-hour workdays at a Yue Yuen factory in Dongguan, China. For this time, workers received $0.53 an hour, less than the legal minimum. Additionally, workers reported being under constant pressure from managers to meet production quotas, which are sometimes as high as 75 shoes per hour.

In Honduras, another source of much of the apparel sold in the U.S., workers face a similar plight. In early 2009, two Honduran factories, both subcontracted by Nike, were abruptly closed, leaving more than 1,800 workers without jobs. More than a year later, the workers are still owed $2.2 million in severance pay--pay that is required by law. Frustrated with Nike's failure to compensate these workers, the University of Wisconsin at Madison recently cancelled its licensing contract with the company.

Like Nike, Russell has committed labor rights abuses in Honduras. According to workers, wages are low (less than $1.50 per hour), the drinking water available in factories is unsafe and managers verbally abuse workers. When workers recently attempted to unionize, Russell fought back, intimidating and threatening workers who showed any allegiance for the union. In 2007, Russell illegally fired 145 union supporters, and last year, the company closed a unionized factory only days after negotiations between Russell and the union failed. The workers, left without jobs, were put on blacklists made available to other employers.

While we do not know if UT apparel was being produced in these factories (we cannot name the exact factories in which UT apparel is produced), it is likely that our burnt orange Longhorn apparel is produced under similar conditions. The clothing Nike and Russell produce for UT is not unlike any other Nike or Russell product; it is probably outsourced to factories in developing countries, where workers are treated unfairly.

As consumers, we are connected to these workers. Though we may not intend to inflict suffering--we are not directly responsible for the conditions present in Nike and Russell factories--we do share some of the responsibility. When we buy apparel made in sweatshops, our dollars support an unjust system.

Together, Oxfam UT and Students Against Sweatshops are working to change the sweatshop status quo. Specifically, we are asking the university to affiliate with the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC), an independent monitoring agency that will monitor factories in which UT apparel is produced and alert the university to labor rights violations present in these factories. Reports published by the WRC brought to light the severance pay Nike owes its Honduran workers; this report was behind the University of Wisconsin's decision to terminate its Nike contract. Additionally, the WRC informed its affiliate universities when Russell closed the unionized factory described above. In response, more than 90 colleges and universities severed or suspended their contracts with Russell, a move that eventually caused Russell to reinstate the workers who were laid off when the factory closed.

UT should follow the example set by these universities and partner with the WRC. Affiliation will allow the university to take responsibility for its place in the global assembly line. If WRC reports reveal that Nike or Russell have committed labor rights violations, the university can choose how best to change its relationship with the company. While completely terminating contracts will serve as a last resort--we do not want the university to stop dealing with Nike or Russell, but rather want Nike and Russell to change their practices--reports provided by the WRC will give the university the knowledge it needs to better manage its relationships with these big-name companies.

Furthermore, UT students should not have to support sweatshops in order to display their school spirit. We should be able to wear UT apparel proudly, confident that it was made under fair conditions and knowing that our university truly upholds the values of its Honor Code: learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. We should be able to go into the Co-Op, buy a burnt orange T-shirt, and walk away confident that our purchase supports a just system. As consumers, and as a university community, we must challenge a system that facilitates the suffering of workers in the developing world. We must incite change.

Please see the following links to learn more about the connection between sports apparel and sweatshops:

http://www.ucc.org/justice/pdfs-1/Jobs-in-a-Globalizing-Economy.pdf

http://www.behindthelabel.org/pdf/gildan_alert1103.pdf

http://dpc.senate.gov/hearings/hearing7/transcript.pdf

http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/sweatshops/1262.html

http://www.nlcnet.org/newsroom?id=0031

http://www.cbssports.com/general/story/13186727/badgers-cut-ties-with-ni...

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/education/university/article_24269...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/human-rights-activists-pr_b_2...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/business/18labor.html