Student Senate passed a resolution in early February urging Ohio University to become part of the Workers Rights Consortium, an organization designed to enforce manufacturing codes of conduct and ensure factories producing collegiate apparel to respect workers' rights.
Although OU is affiliated with the Fair Labor Association, college and university administrations, as well as students and labor rights activists, created the WRC to inform and educate schools on economic and legal issues in the global apparel industry.
As a university
if we're sending a message to the community about our values this makes sense said senior Ryan Vesler, who brought the mission of WRC to Student Senate's attention.
The WRC is designed specifically for colleges, Vesler said. OU has stressed the importance of peer universities and some of the top-ranked schools in the country belong to this organization.
I thought this was a progressive step the university needed to take to be competitive with other universities
said Bryn Beers, the student senator who sponsored the resolution.
It is important for OU to become a part of the WRC because the FLA is not doing its job, Beers said.
Some of the FLA's board members are from leading brand-name companies such as Nike, which has been in the media for overworking children in sweatshops, she said. Other comparable organizations affiliated with the FLA run the apparel industry, such as Adidas-Salomon, Reebok and Puma.
A 15-member board made up of five university administrators, five representatives from the United Students Against Sweatshops and five members of the WRC Advisory Council governs the WRC.
Ohio schools associated with WRC are Antioch College, Kent State University, Miami University of Ohio, Oberlin College, Ohio State University and Ohio Wesleyan University. Other universities included in the 134 are Harvard University, Columbia University and Duke University.
OU President Roderick McDavis, who has the final say in whether OU joins the WRC, said he has not made a decision yet, but the proposal is on his desk.
