Ohio University is on its way to becoming an affiliate with a workers' rights group that would ensure goods bearing the OU name and logo are made in decent working conditions ' several years after the original proposal.
Ryan Vesler, a 2005 OU alumnus, proposed to Student Senate in 2005 that OU become an affiliate with the Workers Rights Consortium. The WRC is a non-profit organization that assists in the enforcement of codes of conduct adopted by colleges and universities. These codes ensure that goods bearing those schools' names respect the basic rights of workers, according to the WRC's official Web site, www.workersrights.org.
Getting the project off the ground and complying with application requirements took over two years to complete because of the many pieces required to join. The final code of conduct and a letter signed by President Roderick McDavis were finalized and mailed last week.
After Vesler's proposal, Student Senate passed a resolution in February 2005 urging the university to join the WRC, according to a Feb. 23, 2005, Post article. The project began shortly thereafter, but Adam Fardy, the 2006-07 Student Senate international affairs commissioner, took it over fully last year.
Fardy first met with Bill Decatur, vice president for finance and administration, to discuss getting the university's presidential cabinet members to think about joining the WRC. Fardy kind of went through circles with him and didn't make much progress, he said. Eventually the project landed on the desk of Kent Smith, vice president for student affairs. Fardy and Smith have worked closely for more than a year to prepare the materials for application.
To become a member of the WRC, schools must adopt a code of conduct that creates a work standard by which OU product manufacturers agree. Although OU also abides by standards set by the Licensing Resource Group ' another organization that manages companies licensed by institutions ' the WRC is geared specifically toward the rights of the workers.
(The WRC is) a little more focused on enforcing workers' rights on an international basis
Fardy said. As a university we should belong to an organization that strongly supports workers' rights especially on an international scale.
Smith said the process to join took a long time because there are many pieces to the application. Besides creating OU's code of conduct, schools must make a list of all of the companies that manufacture goods with the university's name. That list is over 50 pages long and includes companies from all over the world, he said.
OU also agreed to pay the yearly fee of 1 percent of the gross sales of licensing royalties ' or $1,000, whichever is higher ' to the WRC. OU receives $150,000 to $200,000 a year in licensing royalties, said Barb Nalazek, associate director of legal affairs. According to those figures, OU will pay $1,500 to $2,000 a year to be a member of the WRC, but this year's fee is not set in stone, she said.
Fardy said joining the WRC is a formal way that the university shows it does not support poor labor practices. It acts as a safety net and covers our back
he said. It's important for the university to belong to an organization that stresses good labor practices and puts the university in a good light.
Smith said joining the WRC gives the university some protection. Worker's rights are a national and world issue, and joining takes this protection a step farther, he said.
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