Sweatshop committee nears its final recommendations

The University's sweatshop task force met yesterday in preparation for its final recommendations on which of two rival organizations Penn should join to monitor the production of its logo apparel. Ad Hoc Committee on Sweatshop Labor Chairman Howard Kunreuther said the task force -- charged with advising University President Judith Rodin on sweatshop-related issues -- would likely release a statement by early next week. "We have been in touch with both groups," said Kunreuther, chairman of the Operations and Information Management Department. "We are now putting together a letter for President Rodin." In February, the committee recommended that Penn withhold its membership from both the Fair Labor Association and the Worker Rights Consortium until both groups responded to concerns about the representation afforded to colleges and universities on their governing boards. After being dissatisfied with the responses provided by both groups last month, the committee suggested that Penn continue to remain outside both the FLA and the WRC, and asked Rodin to contact the organizations again with Penn's concerns. Penn withdrew from the FLA in February following a nine-day sit-in by members of Penn Students Against Sweatshops, who favor the WRC, saying it is less influenced by corporate concerns. Representatives from the committee made a presentation to the FLA's board of directors last Thursday in which they outlined Penn's position, which called for more balanced representation for colleges and universities on the FLA board. FLA Executive Director Sam Brown called the meeting "useful and productive," saying that other FLA member schools had raised similar concerns about representation. The FLA currently allocates only one of the 13 seats on its board for a representative of its 134 member schools, with the other 12 seats divided among apparel companies and human rights groups. The WRC, which held its founding conference on April 7, allocates three of the 12 seats on its board to its 45 member schools, with three additional seats going to students from United Students Against Sweatshops and six seats to members of the WRC Advisory Council, which includes human rights and labor experts, politicians and university professors. WRC Coordinator Maria Roeper said yesterday that the WRC had not made a specific response to Rodin's most recent letter to the group, noting that the WRC denied Penn's request to send observers to the founding conference because only member schools' representatives were allowed to attend. At the conference, administrators from several schools expressed concerns about the composition of the WRC board, and a working group was created to look at possible changes.

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