Students passing through Polk Place on Thursday were confronted with grim details about the working conditions of the factories that make their UNC shirts and caps.
Several students representing Student Action with Workers, a chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops, set up a table and read stories of workers who labor under hard and sometimes illegal conditions to create University apparel.
"Our administration did nothing to support the rights of these workers," senior Salma Mirza, a member of both SAW and UNC's licensing labor code advisory committee, said about workers at a Dominican Republic factory.
The committee - which is composed of students, faculty and staff - makes recommendations to Chancellor James Moeser about licensing.
UNC buys clothing from more than 3,600 factories around the world, Mirza said. Several of its suppliers, including New Era Cap Company, have records of violating their workers' rights.
SAW, which is working with the UNC Sweatfree Coalition, set an April 16 deadline for UNC to join the Designated Suppliers Program or face further protests.
University administrators were unavailable for comment about the deadline.
At least 40 other universities, including Duke University, have signed on with the DSP, which would require that manufacturers of UNC apparel follow the University's code of conduct and pay minimum wage to its workers.
And in a letter sent August 2007, Moeser told the committee that the effectiveness of the DSP remained in question.
"Too many critical questions simply have not been answered about how the DSP, as currently proposed, would operate," he stated, adding that it was unclear whether the DSP would actually improve the lives of the workers.
The committee itself is divided among those who favor the DSP, which is sponsored by the Workers Rights Consortium and those who prefer alternatives, such as those proposed by the Fair Labor Association. UNC is a member of both groups.
"Everybody wants the same objective, which is to improve labor conditions," said Jim Peacock, a former co-chairman of the committee.
The FLA has board members from companies such as New Era, which Mirza said has violated workers' rights before.
On Tuesday SAW plans to hold a protest against the executive director of the FLA, Jorge Perez-Lopez, who is visiting the campus that day. Mirza said she expects at least 200 people to join.
If the deadline about joining the DSP passes on Thursday without Moeser signing on, SAW plans to hold a protest outside South Building.
"In general, universities have not acted until students protested," Mirza said, adding that their groups have petitioned the administration about workers' rights for several years.
Several dozen other chapters of the USAS protested against universities not affiliated with the DSP around the country.
At Appalachian State University, 15 students spent the night in the university's main administrative building as part of a sit-in protesting ASU's licensing policies.
The sit-in continued throughout Thursday and, as of 7:30 p.m., 18 students planned to spend a second night in the building.
"Our stance is very firm," said Melissa Hanson, one of the ASU students participating in the sit-in. "We are not leaving until they sign on or until they arrest us."
Assistant University Editor Katy Doll contributed reporting.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
