Protesters gain victories at three more universities

The midwestern schools have agreed to join the Worker Rights Consortium. Under unrelenting pressure from student activists, three midwestern universities agreed Friday to conditionally join the fledgling Worker Rights Consortium, while Penn protesters strive to maintain the momentum generated by their recent sit-in. Indiana University, the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin at Madison issued a joint statement last week indicating that they will conditionally join the WRC after meeting with them in April. "We take this step without endorsing all the provisions of the current working draft," Indiana Dean of Students and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Richard McKaig said in a statement on Friday. "We plan to attend and actively participate in the founding conference of the WRC in April in New York City," he added. Students from both Wisconsin and Indiana cited the success of Penn's sit-in as a catalyst for action on their own campus, and anti-sweatshop protesters at both Madison and Ann Arbor staged sit-ins last week comparable to the recent protest at Penn. And according to University President Judith Rodin, the anti-sweatshop activism at these campuses is directly linked to the nine-day sit-in at College Hall earlier this month. Rodin praised the Penn students -- who she had criticized during their nine-day sit-in earlier this month -- saying "the fact that their actions had influenced other students across the country is significant." Campus protesters across the country claim the WRC more effectively monitors the production of university-logo apparel for schools nationwide, safeguarding workers' rights better than does the rival Fair Labor Association. Activists point to the fact that the WRC is run by human rights organizations, while the FLA is closely linked to the garment industry. Penn withdrew from the FLA last week, ending the Penn Students Against Sweatshops sit-in. About 130 schools and universities are currently members of the FLA, while eight schools -- including the three that joined this week -- are in the WRC. Penn's ad hoc committee on sweatshops, which is composed of students, faculty and administrators and is charged to look into Penn's sweatshop policies, will meet throughout the week and will report to Rodin by February 29. The group is expected to recommend what monitoring group the University should use. Yesterday, committee members heard from FLA executive director Charles Ruff -- who led President Clinton's impeachment defense -- and WRC representative David Schilling to help them in formulating their recommendation. And the committee seems rather well aware of the actions of Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan. "It's fair to say it's background material for us," Committee Chair Howard Kunreuther said last night. "But we're really trying to focus on what Penn should do." Michigan spokesman Joel Seguine said the educational trio will not promise the WRC final membership until the schools and the organization agree upon the final details of membership. "There are some shortcomings to the proposal as presented by the WRC," Seguine said. "We will become full members when these shortcomings are addressed to our satisfaction." Student protesters at all three schools were only cautiously optimistic about the pledge to join the WRC -- a demand many anti-sweatshop groups have voiced repeatedly -- saying that the process is far from over. "There was no enumeration of what it means to sign on provisionally or when that would occur," Wisconsin senior and student activist Marc Brakken said after the joint announcement. "It's a victory in the sense that the University has taken the initial step, but there is no way to guarantee that the University will continue to be active in the WRC," he added. Calling the FLA an inept organization, Indiana sophomore Bennett Baumer echoed Brakken's sentiment. "There's a lot of stuff we still need to work out with the administration," he said. "The battle is not over." Even though some students at the other schools expressed doubts about the overall impact of the pledge to join the WRC, College junior Miriam Joffe-Block -- a PSAS member and one of the students who participated in the Penn sit-in -- remained hopeful that the recent move in the midwest could ultimtely benefit Penn. "These are three really big schools with a lot of contacts that are aligned with the WRC, aligned with the principles it stands for," Joffe-Block said.