STAFF EDITORIAL: Rodin: Work with the WRC

The University should join the Worker Rights Consortium on a provisional basis rather than the Fair Labor Association. Two organizations, the Fair Labor Association and the Worker Rights Consortium, are in competition for Penn's affiliation. Rather than pledge its unconditional support for either organization, we would like to see Penn join the WRC -- clearly the better choice for the long run -- on a provisional basis, as other schools recently have. As currently constituted, however, neither the FLA nor the WRC constitutes a completely effective monitoring mechanism. Neither, for instance, has yet to actually monitor conditions in clothing factories. But through its endorsement of a living wage for factory employees, the WRC has demonstrated a stronger commitment to workers' rights than has the FLA. We are also dismayed by the FLA's inability over the last year to win the support of many human rights groups and labor organizations. Members of these groups would do the actual factory monitoring, and their support -- now aligned with the WRC -- is crucial for the success of either the FLA or WRC. Our advocacy of the WRC is, however, highly conditional. The consortium has no viable organizational structure; with only a handful of schools as members, it has far less institutional support than the FLA. But means are more easily adapted than are goals, and the WRC's aggressive standards would do more for oppressed workers than the FLA's existing code of conduct. The WRC's challenge -- the point on which Penn's membership should hinge -- is to build itself from the ground up. Where no clear or comprehensive framework exists, we encourage Penn administrators to work to transform the WRC from a group defined by its ideals alone into a federation able to enforce its principles in practice. And the WRC is building some momentum in that direction. Last week, three Big 10 schools -- Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan -- agreed to join the WRC on a conditional basis. Given the size of these schools' logo apparel sales, the consortium's leverage appears to be on the rise. Granted, the FLA already has more than 100 schools, as well as apparel makers and industry groups, on its membership rolls. But the association's very size and industry affiliations make it that much harder for any one school to successfully push through needed changes to the FLA's rules. Within the smaller, less-developed WRC, Penn has the opportunity to proactively shape the organization's direction. Ultimately, whatever recommendation the task force makes, no one will be monitoring conditions in Third World factories next week or next month, or possibly even this year. The FLA may get to that point first but, over the long term, we believe the WRC -- with the right support -- can do more for the benefit of apparel industry workers.