June 20th 2014, Bangladesh: men and women are at work in VF Corporation factories making products for Medlar Apparels when short circuiting in video equipment erupts into a fire and over 50 workers are injured. VF Corporation is a well-established powerhouse of the garment industry, with about $11 billion net worth. The prominence of this corporation would lead one to believe this is a mere accident that rarely occurs across their factories. However, further investigation into the working of the factories reveals a stomach-turning reality. The facilities themselves provide less than adequate safety for the thousands of minimum wage workers, which overlooks the building codes and fire safety laws.
There is one simple way to describe the workings of VF’s Bangladeshi garment factories: they are sweatshops. Profit driven machines working past fundamental human rights in order to provide the brands with their products. The heartbreaking circumstance is that based on numerous reports of verbal abuse, unethical control of workers rights to unionize and feel safe at work reflects the conclusion that VF Corporation is deep into the corruption that supports profitable decisions over moral ones.
The fortunate news is that people have taken notice and organized into taking action to fight back the injustices. Notably and in line with their great tradition of activism, it was college students around the nation that founded some of the strongest oppositions to the sweatshops. Thus United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) was created as a collaboration of university students on over 150 campuses that are seeking to campaign for labor and social justice. One of the focal targets of their efforts has been to make sure universities are partnering with institutions that value fair labor practices.
The noble mission of USAS made an impression on University of Louisville sociology student Jamie El-Mallakh, which then prompted him to organize a local chapter on his campus. The Cards United Against Sweatshops (CUAS) was founded in January of 2014 under the intentions to ensure the University of Louisville does it’s part to disassociate with corporations such as VF and others that exploit their workers.
The best way for UofL to make take a stand is to cut ties with those corrupt corporations that currently stock apparel and goods in the bookstore and start sourcing from alternative companies. El-Mallakh and CUAS have identified a company that they believe best align with the values of human rights. Alta Gracia is a clothing factory in the Dominican Republic that thrives on fair trade labor and is dedicated to paying its employees a living wage. According to their website, Alta Gracia’s efforts to pay workers a living wage and their collaboration with the Workers Rights Consortium, a global organization to proctor working conditions and protect labor rights, has enabled workers to have access to 3 meals a day, health care, housing, transportation, and education.
El-Mallakh explains “at the present time Alta Gracia is the only living-wage factory that UofL is able to source products from, therefore making it an excellent model for socially conscious corporations.” Hence the current goal of Cards United Against Sweatshops is to halt sourcing from VF factories and stocking the university official bookstore with Alta Gracia apparel. The aspirations of CUAS have lead to a variety of organized social actions and protests with the intention to raise awareness and student support for disassociating with VF Corporation. However, another significant factor of CUAS efforts has been to meet with administration such as the Provost to work towards effectively sustaining the sale of Alta Gracia products at UofL.
CUAS has faced some challenges in getting firm action plans and commitments to support their cause from administration because of business contracts, which is a concern of the organization because precedence of monetary concerns over that of social justice is against the values of many students and the university at large. However, CUAS continues to take strides to combat these challenges in creative and blunt methods. They have met twice with the Provost to clearly express their goals and methods, worked to build coalitions with several on campus organizations and social justice groups, as well as plan and participate in several demonstrations. In November, CUAS participated in a retreat in Lexington where they met with other United Students Against Sweatshops groups on the University of Kentucky campus for workshops geared for developing more effective actions and how to facilitate meetings with administration in a persuasive manner.
Approaching its one-year anniversary, Cards United Against Sweatshops has grown significantly in members, support, as well as influence. USAS’s national mission of solidarity rings true for the students of CUAS as they pair with sustainability, cultural diversity, and inclusion groups on campus to live true to the University of Louisville’s mission statement of “Accessibility, Diversity, Equity, and Communication”. Ultimately the students want to do what part they can in dismantling the support we give to institutions that disrespect their workers health and safety and prevent more calamities like the Bangladeshi Medlar factory.
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