Georgetown University's Anti-Sweatshop Campaign

The fight against sweatshops is a particularly difficult one because we often do not know who or what we should be fighting against. It is therefore very important to focus on some of the success stories of this fight, including the story of Georgetown University students whose efforts changed the way Georgetown apparel is made.

Sweatshops exist in part because people do not know where they are located. Full disclosure is therefore often a criterion for codes or agreements which monitor sweatshops. Other criteria include requirements for a living-wage, the right of workers to organize, or simply the right for a shorter work day, breaks, and bathroom privileges. When Georgetown administration proposed its original "Code of Conduct" for monitoring the sweatshops, students decided it did not effectively address enough of these issues. They fought for a stricter agreement using sit-ins and rallies. Eventually a rally of 170 students got the attention of the administration who found a way to require disclosure of sweatshop locations within a year as part of the code.

However, many provisions, such as a living-wage requirement, were still absent. The University had established a new University committee, the Licensing Implementation Committee (LIC), whose purpose was to oversee the implementation of just labor regulations in factories that produce Georgetown apparel. The LIC began researching the different organizations who could monitor the making of the apparel, and eventually recommended the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) whose code of conduct contains the highest standards in the industry. Georgetown followed this recommendation, and now the WRC monitors the making of Georgetown apparel. Students, faculty, and administrators continue to follow the work of the WRC to assure that their university's apparel is made only under just conditions.