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Students Against Sweatshops protest at administration building

November 17, 2016
Members of MSU's chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops walk from Shaw Hall to Hannah Administration Building on Nov. 16, 2016. The students delivered a letter to the Office of the President requesting that MSU confront Nike about allegations of worker's rights violations.
Members of MSU's chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops walk from Shaw Hall to Hannah Administration Building on Nov. 16, 2016. The students delivered a letter to the Office of the President requesting that MSU confront Nike about allegations of worker's rights violations. —
Photo by Emilia McConnell | The State News

On Nov. 16, a group of students met in the lobby of East Shaw Hall dressed in MSU branded Nike gear, only to cover up the famous “Swoosh” with duct tape.

Once all of their logos were covered, they took out their signs, which had phrases such as “MSU students stand in solidarity with Nike workers” in addition to a sign that urged President Lou Anna K. Simon to “just do the right thing."

United Students Against Sweatshops, a nationwide group that has a local chapter at MSU, is led by the group president neuroscience sophomore Taryn Stefanski.

Stefanski led her group in a march to the Hannah Administration Building to present the administration with a letter regarding the organization's concerns toward the university’s affiliation with Nike.

The USAS students hoped to speak with Simon, however the only available administrator was Chief of Staff Jane Miller.

Miller gave the students permission to read their letter and explain what they hope the university will do.

Stefanski was the first to read from the letter. 

“We are writing out of concern over news regarding Nike’s labor practices," she said reading from the letter. "Nike is refusing to allow the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) to have access to inspect any of its supplier factories.”

Stefanski continued to explain that Nike claims they cannot allow the WRC to inspect their facilities, but that Nike has allowed the WRC to access their factories in the past.

Following Stefanski, neuroscience sophomore Marilyn Zahrt read the next section of the letter. In her section she pointed out that Nike no longer shares the locations of the factories that are producing specific collegiate apparel, such as MSU apparel.

USAS sees that as an issue, Zahrt read from the letter.

“Other licensees provide this information, and Nike must do the same,” Zahrt said.

In the next section of the letter, read by biology sophomore Megan Mulheron, it outlines the group’s issues with MSU being an affiliate of the WRC, stating that because the WRC cannot access the facilities, the university cannot be sure that Nike’s labor practices meet what the university requires in its code of conduct.

“By not providing the WRC with the same on-site factory access as the FLA (Fair Labor Association), Nike is demonstrating that it doesn’t take our Code of Conduct seriously," Mulheron said.

In the following section, physiology sophomore Abby Meyers said that by refusing the WRC access to Nike’s factories, they are keeping the workers from communicating with MSU when their workplace rights may be being violated.

“Nike’s refusal to allow access to independent monitors undermines the entire structure that universities have worked build for almost two decades," Meyers said. "We know Nike has a long track record of labor violations and, like any other brand we contract with, Nike cannot be trusted to voluntarily monitor themselves with any credibility.”

Physiology sophomore Sena Al-Ado read the final section of the letter, which summarized their concerns and outlined the steps they request the university takes.

There are three things that USAS is asking the university to do, according to the letter:

  1. "Place Nike on notice under our licensing agreement and communicate with the company to immediately insist that Nike complies with our Code of Conduct by allowing the WRC to inspect its factories."
  2. "In order to prevent future conflicts with licenses or brands we do business with, we request that our university institute additional language which hold all of our licensees, including our athletic sponsor, accountable to our Code of Conduct and to required independent monitoring by the WRC. If needed, renegotiate current contracts with athletic sponsor."
  3. "If Nike fails to remediate its violation of our Code, we ask that you hold this company accountable by terminating and/or not renewing its contract for brazen non-compliance with basic anti-sweatshop monitoring standards."

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The students left their letter with the Office of the President in hopes that President Simon will read it and follow up with the USAS group. 

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