PSLM Balks at Other Schools' Radical Tactics

While protests against University association with sweatshop labor have rejuvenated activism on campus this spring, the movement against sweatshop labor continues to build momentum nationally.

Both in the Ivies and at state universities, the anti-sweatshop movement began elsewhere and became more radical more quickly than at Harvard.

Though in March the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM), the movement's champion at Harvard, took part in a 350-person rally, at other schools more disruptive sit-ins have been more common.

And these tactics have achieved results in many places--for instance, the University of Wisconsin's president approved what some call the most stringent sweat-shop controls in the country after a 97-hour student sit-in.

But as these schools let out for the summer, Harvard's anti-sweatshop leaders say they are satisfied with the progress of their campaign. They say they do not plan to adopt more radical tactics anytime soon.

What's in a Name?

The University of Wisconsin (UW) at Madison's anti-sweatshop group may be called MASC--the Madison Anti-Sweatshop Coalition--but its most recent successes will make sure little is hidden in regard to sweatshop labor.

After the sit-in outside the Chancellor's office in February, which came after months of protests and press conferences by anti-sweatshop forces, UW Chancellor David Ward agreed to essentially all of protestors' demands.

"Those standards [to which Ward agreed] were pretty much the strongest stuff that was passed in the country, and is being used as a model for other universities," says Erik J. Brakken, a MASC member who graduated from the UW this month.

In addition to full disclosure of factory locations and names, the provisions adopted by UW provide for a university commitment to participate in a global living wage study, a country specific living wage to be paid to all clothing workers and special protection for women in factories.

A month later at the University of Michigan, students took over the office of the president and stayed there for 51 hours, demanding an agreement like Wisconsin's.

At the end of the sit-in, the Michigan students won an agreement that included full disclosure, protection for women and a living wage for workers. Other sit-ins on the issue have taken place at Duke, Brown and Georgetown universities, the University of Arizona and the University of North Carolina.

Students at these schools and others communicate through an umbrella group called United Students against Sweatshops (USAS). They share ideas and tactics through conferences and by phone and e-mail.

But though Harvard's PSLM is tied into this network, group leaders say the situation at Harvard is progressing fast enough that no such radical tactics are needed for now.

PSLM member Eleanor I. Benko '02 says she is encouraged by other schools' gains. But though PSLM's demands are equally radical, she feels the University is negotiating in good faith.

"It's encouraging to have other schools succeed in these initiatives but I don't think it changed our strategy," Benko says. "We have to consider the circumstances here and the administration here and how we're going to obtain our objectives."

The Demands from Harvard

PSLM negotiators have been meeting with University lawyer Allan A. Ryan Jr. for a year, pushing five demands that have also been on the table at other schools.

The first demand was full disclosure of factory locations, to which Harvard agreed after March's Rally for Justice, which the PSLM staged along with other campus causes.

The second demand was for workers to be paid a "living wage" for the country they live in. Third was an assurance of protection for women--who activists say are more vulnerable in some factory settings.

Fourth was a call for student participation in devising a code of conduct and overseeing apparel contracts. Finally, PSLM asks for monitoring by an independent non-governmental organization.

In addition, PSLM wants Harvard to become part of an Independent University Initiative (IUI), a group of universities that are not involved with the Collegiate Licensing Corporation, a company to which many universities belong, and who must make decisions through the company.

Benko says she is satisfied because Harvard has made a commitment to full disclosure. She says that, encouraged by the gains at other schols, she hopes that during negotiations PSLM will be able to gain its other objectives.

"Fortunately there's been a real national momentum behind sweatshop initiatives," Benko says. "There's more and more national support for this kind of a movement and I think that puts pressure on the university to see that this isn't just an isolated group on campus, but that we're part of a national network that's devoted to getting universities to implement codes of conduct."

A Deadlock Approaching?

The only other prominent school where student activists chose to negotiate first was the University of Michigan, where students began negotiating with the school's general counsel after presenting their demands.

The outcome was similar to PSLM's progress so far--full disclosure was agreed on, but the two sides deadlocked on further demands, including women's rights and a living wage.

"The university agreed to study that and think about it but they wouldn't commit, so we decided to increase the pressure," says Andrew R. Cornell, a Michigan student. The Michigan antisweatshop group then organized a 350-person rally, followed by the sit-in the next week.

PSLM member Aron R. Fischer '99-'00 says that the Rally for Justice in March was aggressive enough to bring change.

"I think basically our tactic has been a combination of action and negotiation and I think that's actually worked pretty well so far," he says. "We certainly have made loud demands, particularly at the rally for justice in March, and that more aggressive tactic worked.

"We certainly intend to continue to be loud and to continue to be forceful," he says. "But a sit-in would only be a last resort after we were convinced that there was no way to go forward with the administration."

New Tactics

And PSLM is currently using innovative tactics to bring the sweatshop issue to center stage.

Earlier this month, members staged two "street theater" shows in front of the Science Center to protest Harvard's joining of an IUI with University of California and the University of Notre Dame.

The schools have hired as an independent monitor PricewaterhouseCoopers, a large accounting company with business and consulting interests in numerous garment factories, which PSLM members feel is a conflict of interest.

To illustrate this dissatisfaction, part of the street theater show featured PricewaterhouseCoopers climbing into bed with a garment company.

Likely, through the end of this year and the beginning of next year, students at Harvard and other schools will continue to press the issue. They say collective action is the key to putting this issue in the national spotlight.

"I think probably more than even the gains we made about the policy...was the publicity we brought to the issue," Cornell says, citing coverage in Time, Business Week, USA Today, US News and World Report and The New York Times.