Students for Economic Justice and Movimiento Estudiantil Xicano de Aztlan raised awareness for workers' rights issues Thursday during a demonstration outside Wells Hall that included sweatshop clotheslines.

The demonstration was part of a United Students Against Sweatshops national day of action in which universities across the country hoped to make communities aware of sweatshop conditions.

Students at the University of Michigan, Grand Valley State University and Western Michigan University also held events Thursday, said David Mitchell, a Students for Economic Justice, or SEJ, member.

SEJ and Movimiento Estudiantil Xicano de Aztlan, or MEXA, students passed out flyers and encouraged students to sign a petition for MSU to join the Worker Rights Consortium.

"It's imperative that we allow the people who make our clothes to have rights," SEJ member Holly Gist said.

The Worker Rights Consortium, or WRC, is a group of universities and students who work to insure university apparel is not manufactured in sweat shops.

U-M and eight other Big Ten universities are a part of the group, but MSU is not.

SEJ and MEXA workers hope the university will become a member of the group.

If MSU joins, the WRC would notify administrators of any university apparel made in sweatshop conditions.

About 40 members of SEJ and MEXA were involved throughout the day in the demonstration.

The event included a clothesline, hanging from trees outside Wells Hall, with shirts that were each spray-painted with the saying "WRC NOW."

Group members carried their petition and students stopped by to see what the event was about.

Gist said she had collected a lot of signatures, as she held a stack of petition papers littered with scribbled names.

Chemical engineering sophomore Ryan Weiss asked Mitchell how he could avoid purchasing clothing made in sweatshops.

Mitchell told Weiss shirt or pants tags will have a marking showing they were produced by unions. He also said second-hand clothing has less of a chance of being made in sweatshops.

"The reality is most clothes are manufactured in sweatshops," Mitchell said. "This is more about being aware of it."

Weiss said the demonstration helped to raise awareness among apathetic students.

"More students should be aware of this issue," Weiss said. "The problem is, most students don't care because they're not the ones in the sweatshops."