Worker Rights Consortium

The Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) is an independent labor rights monitoring organization focused on protecting the rights of workers who sew apparel and make other products sold in the United States, particularly those bearing college or university logos. The WRC conducts independent, in-depth investigations, issues public reports on factories producing for major global brands, and aids workers at these factories in their efforts to end labor abuses and defend their workplace rights. The WRC was founded in 2001 university administrators, labor rights experts, and student activists including members of United Students Against Sweatshops. The WRC has over 150 college and university affiliates, and a number of high school affiliates. [ [http://www.workersrights.org/ Workers Rights Consortium website ] , accessed March 1, 2007]

Programs and activities

When a school affiliates with the WRC, they pass a Code of Conduct for the manufacturers of their apparel. The code of conduct typically includes bans forced overtime, child labor, bonded labor, and discrimination of any kind, including sex discrimination, and affirms workers' rights to a living wage, a safe work environment, and freedom of association and collective bargaining. The WRC sends representatives to facilities in Global South where the apparel is being produced to monitor whether the code of conduct is being upheld. The WRC then makes annual, public reports on the working conditions in the facilities. When a factory is found to not be upholding the Code of Conduct, the company or companies--often major international brands--who sub-contracted to that factory are usually threatened with the termination of their licensing contract(s) unless they exert pressure on the factory to improve work conditions.

The WRC, working with many U.S. universities, is currently working on designing and launching the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP) to address some of the major obstacles to code of conduct enforcement that are embedded in the of the apparel industry's distended global supply chains. [Scott Jaschik, [http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/09/28/wrc "Codes Don't Work"] , "Inside Higher Education", September 28, 2006, accessed May 7, 2007]

Schools Affiliated With The WRC

As of October 10, 2007 [ [http://www.workersrights.org/as.asp Workers Rights Consortium, Affiliate Schools] , accessed October 18, 2007]

177 Colleges and Universities

# American University
# Antioch College
# Aquinas College
# Arizona State University
# Ball State University
# Bard College
# Bellarmine University
# Beloit College
# Berea College
# Boston College
# Bowdoin College
# Bowling Green State University
# Brandeis University
# Brown University
# California Polytechnic State University
# California State University, Fullerton
# California State University, Long Beach
# California State University, San Bernardino
# Carleton College
# Carnegie Mellon University
# Clark University
# Colby College
# The College of the Holy Cross
# The College of St. Catherine
# The College of William and Mary
# Columbia University
# Cornell University
# DePaul University
# Dickinson College
# Duke University
# Duquesne University
# Earlham College
# Eckerd College
# The Evergreen State College
# Fairfield University
# Florida State University
# Fordham University
# Franklin & Marshall College
# Georgetown University
# George Washington University
# Gonzaga University
# Grand Valley State University
# Grinnell College
# Hamilton College
# Hampshire College
# Harvard University
# Haverford College
# Hunter College
# Illinois State University
# Indiana University
# Ithaca College
# James Madison University
# John Carroll University
# Johns Hopkins University
# Kent State University
# Kenyon College
# Kutztown University
# Lake Forest College
# Louisiana State University
# Loyola University Chicago
# Macalester College
# Marquette University
# Massachusetts Institute of Technology
# McMaster University
# Miami University
# Michigan State University
# Middle Tennessee State University
# Middlebury College
# Moravian College
# New Mexico State University
# New York University
# Northern Arizona University
# Northern Illinois University
# Northwestern University
# Oberlin College
# Occidental College
# Ohio State University
# Ohio University
# Ohio Wesleyan University
# The Pennsylvania State University
# Pomona College
# Purdue University
# Queen's University
# Regis University
# Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
# Ryerson University
# St. Cloud State University
# St. John's University
# Saint Joseph's University
# Saint Louis University
# Saint Mary's College
# St. Olaf College
# San Diego State University
# San Francisco State University
# San Jose State University
# Santa Clara University
# Sarah Lawrence College
# Seattle University
# Skidmore College
# Smith College
# Soka University of America
# Southern Illinois University Carbondale
# Stanford University
# The State University of New York College at Cortland
# The State University of New York at New Paltz
# Stetson University
# Suffolk University
# Syracuse University
# Transylvania University
# Trent University
# Tulane University
# Union College
# University at Albany, The State University of New York
# University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
# University of Arizona
# University of California, Berkeley
# University of California, Davis
# University of California, Irvine
# University of California, Los Angeles
# University of California, Merced
# University of California, Riverside
# University of California, San Diego
# University of California, San Francisco
# University of California, Santa Barbara
# University of California, Santa Cruz
# University of Chicago
# University of Colorado at Boulder
# University of Connecticut
# University of Dayton
# University of Delaware
# University of Guelph
# University of Illinois at Chicago
# University of Illinois at Springfield
# University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
# University of Iowa
# University of Louisville
# University of Maine at Farmington
# University of Maine, Orono
# University of Maryland, College Park
# University of Massachusetts Amherst
# University of Massachusetts Boston
# University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
# University of Massachusetts Lowell
# University of Massachusetts Worcester
# University of Miami
# University of Michigan
# University of Minnesota
# University of Missouri
# University of Montana
# University of New Hampshire
# University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
# University of Notre Dame
# University of Pennsylvania
# University of Portland
# University of Rhode Island
# University of San Francisco
# University of South Carolina
# University of Toronto
# University of Virginia
# University of Washington
# University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
# University of Wisconsin-Madison
# University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
# University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
# Ursinus College
# Vanderbilt University
# Vassar College
# Villanova University
# Wake Forest University
# Washington State University
# Washington University in St. Louis
# Wayne State University
# Wellesley College
# Wesleyan University
# Western Michigan University
# Western Washington University
# Williams College

High School affiliates

# Brattleboro Union High School
# Creighton Preparatory School
# Jefferson County Open School
# Oak Park and River Forest High School
# Ontario Catholic School Board Affiliate

References

External links

* [http://www.workersrights.org Worker Rights Consortium] (homepage)
* [http://www.workersrights.org/FAQ_11-11-05.pdf WRC Frequently Asked Questions]