This fall, the Syracuse University chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops is aiming to raise awareness of manufacturing conditions in Bangladesh with the “End Deathtraps” campaign.

On Tuesday, USAS delivered a letter to Chancellor Nancy Cantor pressuring the university to cut ties with companies that haven’t signed onto the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, said Jose Godinez, the chapter’s leader. The group’s goal is to change the companies to which SU licenses its products, and the ethics that surround those companies.

In April, the factory Rana Plaza collapsed and killed more than 1,100 garment workers in Bangladesh, Godinez said. The campaign was created due to the organization not wanting something similar to happen in the future.

In the wake of the collapse, activists have been asking companies to sign the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, Godinez said. The accord, he said, is a legally binding agreement between brands and unions. It gives workers the opportunity to refuse unsafe work without facing repercussions, he said. Godinez said companies have to pay for renovations of factories they’re producing out of, among other things.

USAS is pressuring Cantor to add a clause to SU’s policies that would promise the school would not make apparel with brands that did not sign the accord, said Godinez, an undeclared sophomore in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management.

“The problem of unsafe workplaces is a real one. Every day, workers are putting their lives at risk in order to produce apparel for America,” Godinez said.

This summer, Godinez spent 10 days in Bangladesh, meeting with survivors and families of those lost, hearing their stories, he said. He said traveling to Bangladesh inspired him to take action.

Godinez wants to build upon the recognition the group established through its “Badidas” campaign last year, which condemned Adidas’ handling of the PT Kizone factory closure. Nationwide, USAS boycotted the company, which refused to pay $1.8 million in severance to 2,800 Indonesian garment workers.

“School after school cut their contracts with Adidas,” said Joy Perkett, campaign coordinator of the Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State. “That was a successful campaign.”

Perkett, who has worked with student groups across the state, said the most successful schools she has witnessed are the ones that are willing to be aggressive.

USAS’ campaign has been openly received by administrators, who said they are willing to hear the group’s requests.

Jamie Cyr, director of auxiliary services, said in an email they are in the process of scheduling a meeting with USAS.

There has been a positive relationship with USAS, as well as an “open line of communication,” said Kevin Quinn, senior vice president for public affairs, in an email.

“We look forward to meeting them to hear their concerns,” he said.

Godinez said USAS does not want the focus of its campaign to be the letter delivery, but rather the involvement of the student body. He said the group encourages students to attend rallies and send their own messages to SU administrators.
zmwarman@syr.edu

Published on September 19, 2013 at 2:14 am