Boulder – A University of Colorado advisory committee has recommended that CU give qualified support to a proposed set of regulations governing where companies making officially licensed CU apparel can have their goods manufactured.
But the recommendation did not go far enough to persuade 11 students to end their hunger strike, which is now in its eighth day. Those students, joined by several dozen others, held a rally on campus Wednesday, protesting that the university isn’t doing enough to stop goods with the CU logo from being made in sweatshops.
CU already has a code of conduct that prohibits officially licensed goods from being made in sweatshops. The students want CU to sign onto the Designated Suppliers Program, which would require that CU-licensed goods be made only in factories where workers are paid a livable wage and are a part of a collective-bargaining agreement.
“What we’re asking is for the university to consolidate into a few factories to create a market demand for fair labor standards,” said Virginia Cutshall, one of the protest’s leaders.
The Licensing Advisory Committee, in its recommendation, said CU’s current approach to making sure factories are treating their workers fairly “has had very limited success.”
But it also said the Designated Suppliers Program, though on the right track, is currently unworkable. The program doesn’t have enough details on how regulations would be enforced or whether licensees would go along with it. It might also raise wages for a few, while costing many more their jobs, the committee said.
The committee said it hopes offering qualified support for the regulations will give CU a place in the discussion on how to make them more workable.
Paul Tabolt, the vice chancellor for administration, will now take the committee’s recommendation and make his own recommendation to CU interim Chancellor Phil DiStefano. Tabolt said one option is to stop selling licensing rights altogether.
“It’s one of those reality issues. Is it worth going through this every spring?” Tabolt said.
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
