Sweatshop Group Promotes Its Cause

Harvard Students Against Sweatshops (HSAS) protested Harvard’s labor-monitoring policies yesterday afternoon in front of The Coop, with eight students and one member’s brother raising a banner and passing out flyers.

The banner-dropping was originally scheduled for Monday, but was postponed both because only five HSAS members came and because there was no Crimson coverage.

“The more people find out about Harvard’s labor policies, the more embarrassing it is to the administration,” HSAS member Alex B. Horowitz ’02 said. “Some economic pressure makes sense, as well as other rhetorical and public pressure.”

Students attached the handmade banner, reading “Where’s the VERITAS in slave labor?” and depicting a crossed-out Nike swoosh, to a lantern and the Coop sign. One member held the sign in place while others gave 100 “Harvard-Nike: Just don’t do it” leaflets to passersby, urging them to call University President Lawrence H. Summers.

No Coop staff members came outside, and a Cambridge traffic police officer passed by without comment. The protesters decided not to wear “Harvard Living Wage Now” buttons, which many had brought with them.

After about 20 minutes, the protesters ran out of leaflets and took down the banner at 4:10 p.m. Initially, they had speculated that a Coop employee would ask them to take it down after a few minutes.

Harvard is currently a member of the Fair Labor Association, a nonprofit White House initiative to monitor labor practices around the world. HSAS wants Harvard to switch to the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), a labor-based independent monitoring group that they contend is the only organization consistent with Harvard’s labor policies.

“It’s an entirely different model,” said Jeff D. Ballinger, research associate at the Kennedy School and a member of the WRC Advisory Board. “[WRC] makes a direct connection with workers. That to me is a much more transparent assessment.”

On February 21, 2000, the Undergraduate Council passed a resolution urging the administration to join WRC. According to HSAS members, the administration has consistently refused to modify or justify its policies. Eighty-six other universities, including four Ivies, have WRC membership. Vice President and General Counsel Anne Taylor was unavailable for comment.

“I can very easily see Harvard joining the WRC,” HSAS member Sarah M. Seltzer ’05 said. “Harvard needs to be a leader and take a moral stand.”

The recent announcement of the Coop’s contract with Nike is drawing attention to labor practices, but despite their crossed-out Nike swoosh, HSAS members insist that they protest for more monitoring, and not against a particular company.

Last year HSAS held a series of self-described “provocative” protests, including a striptease in front of the Science Center. Members said they plan to continue having an event every few weeks, but declined to give specifics.

“It’s not something that requires large numbers [of people],” Horowitz said. “We just want to get the message to the Coop that we don’t support sweatshop labor.”