PSLM Holds Living Wage Sit-In

Members of the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM) held a sit-in outside the Science Center yesterday afternoon to demand the implementation of a living wage for those who make Harvard clothing.

The sit-in was held in support of the Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality (SOLE) at the University of Michigan, a student group that is rallying for a living wage and disclosure of the locations of factories that manufacture University of Michigan clothing.

Playing an extensive collection of the Beastie Boys and distributing informational flyers, PSLM members offered food and drinks to those who passed by the Science Center yesterday.

PSLM was one of the principal organizers of the 250-person Rally for Justice held last Tuesday, at which the University announced its commitment to full public disclosure of factory locations. PSLM members are currently urging the University to withdraw from the Fair Labor Association (FLA), an organization that plans to monitor clothing factories worldwide.

PSLM members call this monitoring system weak and inadequate, and instead advocate the creation of a university-wide committee to deal with issues including as FLA affiliation and the anti-sweatshop policy.

According to PSLM member Benjamin L. McKean '02, the group opposes the University's affiliation with FLA because "the FLA is much too controlled by the corporations. We can't trust the industry to monitor themselves."

McKean said PSLM's actions so far have proven effective to some extent.

"We want to keep a presence on campus," McKean said. "I definitely think that we're raising awareness about the issue. We are meeting with the administration next week to discuss the implementation of a committee here at Harvard to oversee sweatshop efforts."

McKean said Harvard was following the lead of other Ivy League schools when it joined the FLA. However, he said he feels the administration is genuinely concerned about the issue of sweatshops.

In PSLM's flyer handed out to students yesterday, Harvard's announcement to commit to full disclosure last Tuesday was called "an absolutely vital step towards eliminating complicity in sweatshop labor."

He said he thought the fact that this announcement was made during the rally was very significant.

"I don't think they would have done it without student pressure," McKean said.