Reich, Workers Decry Sweatshops

Below a large banner with "No Sweat" written in bright red letters, former Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich and two Guatemalan factory workers urged an audience of about 100 people to fight against sweatshop labor at a forum in Sever Hall last night.

The event was sponsored by the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM), which is seeking to make the University more accountable for the working conditions of factories where Harvard's insignia apparel is produced.

Recounting his discovery of sweatshops on Seventh Avenue in New York City, Reich, a professor at Brandeis University, said sweatshops are more widespread than many people think.

"We tend to think of it over there, but the sweatshop phenomenon is global, in our own backyard," Reich said.

For working conditions to improve, Reich said people must actively work to change the situation. "Consumer outrage and indignity won't allow this to occur," he said.

Speaking through an interpreter, the two factory workers--Claudia Victoria Barrios and Dora Cristina Morales--recounted their struggles against low pay, poor hygiene and physical violence at a shirt factory in Guatemala City.

The factory produces apparel for Phillips-Van Heusen--the largest dress shirt producer in the world, according to Carrie Kim, a spokesperson for the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees (UNITE).

Barrios, 24, said each week she earned $51, and that she worked 24 hours straight for two those days.

"There were cockroaches," she said. "The water was dirty, and there were parasites that gave us stomach pain and diarrhea."

Barrios said she was able to unionize the workers, forcing the company to install air conditioners, clean the water, reduce the work week and improve wages.

Her description of union rally cries--"What do we want? A collective agreement! When? Now!"--brought the crowd to applause before the interpreter completed the translation.

But without explanation, the company closed the plant on Dec. 11, Morales said. Currently, both women are unemployed.

PSLM member Benjamin L. McKean '02, who opened the forum, said he hoped student action wouldconvince administrators to establish a code ofconduct regulating working conditions forfactories that produce Harvard clothing.

The PSLM also seeks an independent monitoringagency, and an "open list" of apparel contractors,sub-contractors and source factories, he said."Only when our goals our met, will we besatisfied," McKean said.

Jeff Ballinger, a freelance journalist, spokeabout his experiences researching sweatshops inIndonesia.

Susan Cowell, vice president of UNITE,concluded the forum, reminding students that acode for working conditions is less important thanthe principles behind it.

Nisrin Elamin '99 said she thought the forumwas effective.

"It's good to bring people together to speakabout issues," she said. "As students, we don'thave anything to lose.

The PSLM also seeks an independent monitoringagency, and an "open list" of apparel contractors,sub-contractors and source factories, he said."Only when our goals our met, will we besatisfied," McKean said.

Jeff Ballinger, a freelance journalist, spokeabout his experiences researching sweatshops inIndonesia.

Susan Cowell, vice president of UNITE,concluded the forum, reminding students that acode for working conditions is less important thanthe principles behind it.

Nisrin Elamin '99 said she thought the forumwas effective.

"It's good to bring people together to speakabout issues," she said. "As students, we don'thave anything to lose.