Purdue University 12/2006
President Martin Jischke
Purdue University
Hovde Hall
610 Purdue Mall
West Lafayette, IN 47907
December 7, 2006
Dear President Jischke,
We are writing to urge Purdue University to adopt the Designated Suppliers Program proposed by the United Students Against Sweatshops. It is the right thing to do for sweatshop workers around the world. And it has become the necessary thing to do in order to protect the health of Purdue University students who have been hunger striking for over 20 days in solidarity with workers who sew Purdue and other university logo apparel in abusive conditions for wages so low they and their families often go hungry.
SweatFree Communities supports and coordinates a national network of local campaigns against sweatshops that uses the government procurement market as a tool for change. We support concerned citizens in dozens of communities nationwide who do not want their tax dollars to pay for sweatshop abuses. Thanks to grassroots efforts and broad coalitions of community members, unions, students, people of faith, and others over 170 U.S. states, cities, counties and school districts have committed to “sweatfree” procurement of uniforms and other products to make sure our tax dollars help to create better working conditions in the apparel industry and other global industries.
Similar to Purdue University’s requiring university licensee contractors to abide by a code of conduct to protect workers’ well-being, cities, states, and other public purchasers require contractors and subcontractors to adhere to a fair labor code of conduct. However, a code of conduct, no matter how well it is monitored, is not enough to guarantee the absence of sweatshop conditions. Unfortunately, decency and fairness does not often pay in the global apparel industry; factories that provide decent working conditions and pay workers a living wage usually cannot meet brands’ demands for ever lower prices and faster deliveries. The factories lose orders and customers, and workers lose their jobs.
Large buyers and licensors such as cities and universities can help to change the terms of the global apparel industry so that factories that seek to do the right thing can succeed and code of conduct compliance is possible. This is the goal of the Designated Suppliers Program. We are proposing a similar fair purchasing program for cities, states and other public purchasers, requiring attention to fair pricing, stable and long-term relationships with producers, and reasonable expectations of production volume and turnaround time. We also support long-term sourcing from factories where workers are free to form a democratic union or another form of representative body. Ending sweatshop exploitation in the global apparel industry require workers themselves to be an organized stakeholder in the industry and to have the power to bargain collectively or in other ways collectively influence workplace policies, working conditions, wages, and benefits.
On its own no single university of city can change the terms of the global apparel industry. However, Purdue University can now join 30 other universities that have committed to the Designated Suppliers Program. Soon we hope that a score of cities and states will join these universities with similar expectations of suppliers. Together we can ensure the safety and wellbeing of workers around the world, and the success of ethical suppliers and factories in the apparel industry.
For the sake of workers and for the hunger-striking Purdue University students, we urge you to adopt the Designated Suppliers Program immediately.
Sincerely,
Bjorn Skorpen Claeson
Executive Director
Read more about the Purdue Hunger Strike for Worker Rights.
