University officials say they will continue to protect workers' rights despite a student group's protest of a meeting between MSU President M. Peter McPherson and the leader of a labor-monitoring organization.
Members of Students for Economic Justice, or SEJ, said they were sidestepped after months of communication requesting the university let them have a hand in the planning of the meeting.
"They didn't even tell us about the meeting until it was going on," said Sarah McDonald, an SEJ member and interdisciplinary humanities senior.
McPherson had met with leaders from the Fair Labor Association, which is MSU's current labor-monitoring organization, and the Worker Rights Consortium while on a trip to Washington, D.C., in early March. Officials said the meeting with Scott Nova, executive director of the consortium, wasn't scheduled until the day before it occurred.
"It was sort of last-minute, because I ended up having an opening," McPherson said.
The meeting ignited frustration from members of SEJ, who issued a public statement last week listing grievances and demands to the university.
"Removing students from the process undermines the democratic principles that SEJ and the WRC represent," members wrote in the statement.
The release listed several demands, including a formal apology from the administration, the release of any minutes taken at the meeting and the scheduling of a meeting between the group and McPherson. Members of the group said they have yet to hear from the university regarding their complaints.
"They're unresponsive because, really, they don't have to be too responsive right now," said SEJ member Dave Mitchell.
The economics senior said the group has been campaigning for four years to convince MSU to join the consortium either in addition to or in place of the Fair Labor Association.
The consortium has 121 college and university affiliates - including nine of the 11 Big Ten schools.
Kathy Lindahl, assistant vice president for finance and operations, said she had seen SEJ's statement but would not comment extensively on it.
"I do think that some of the demands that have come out of the press release are not accurate," she said. "The real thing is not to focus on what transpired but really what we're trying to accomplish.
"The ultimate goal is to have an impact on apparel working conditions."
But some SEJ members insist that university officials can't achieve that goal without student input.
"This whole process is happening because of our efforts," McDonald said. "It's not like they woke up one day and decided to fight for workers' rights.
"This is something we've been pushing them to do."
