Historic date to be held

The release below publicizes a debate on the FLA for Nov. 10 at Clark
University.  The Public is invited.  The intiative for this debate came
from an all university committee formed to advise Clark's President on a
policy for the sweatshop issue.
RJSR
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Jane Salerno
Clark University
Media Relations
(508) 793-7635
Worcester, MA 01610

Oct. 19, 1999
Clark hosts debate on “sweatfree” labor issue
WORCESTER, MA—The “sweatfree” movement has involved campuses nationwide,
as both activists and administrators consider how to ensure that college
and university licensed apparel is made under fair labor conditions.
This issue is of growing concern to students, faculty and
administrators, as each new revelation about sweatshop labor conditions
here and abroad bring more protests on and off campuses.
“Should Universities Join the Fair Labor Association?”  Jonathan
Rosenblum and Charles Kernaghan, two prominent players in the
“sweatfree” movement, will tackle the question  in a debate sponsored by
the Clark University Student Government Speakers Forum, at 7 p.m.
Wednesday (Nov. 10) in the Jefferson Academic Center – Room 320.
One hundred and twenty-two institutions have joined the Fair Labor
Association since January 1999. The  FLA was formed by companies and
some human rights groups to create and monitor standards in the apparel
industry.  Apparel workers’ unions and other human rights groups, along
with the student protesters, say the association does not go far enough.

 Rosenblum is a  workers’ rights advocate who supports the new Fair
Labor Association.
He is an attorney in a labor law firm in Madison, Wisconsin, where he
defends workers and - more -
Clark debate – Page 2, continued
unions. He worked at the International Labor Organization and is the
author of a book on the
United Steel Workers and the Phelps Dodge Corporation. Rosenblum acted
as outside counsel,
representing the International Labor Rights Fund, in the negotiations
that created the FLA. The ILRF is among the advocacy groups that support
the Fair Labor Association, a result of the negotiations. He consulted
with Duke University in formulating its Code of Conduct.
Charles Kernaghan is a strong critic of the FLA, saying it is too weak.
He is the Executive Director of the National Labor Committee. The NLC
does research and organizing on behalf of workers’ rights, with
concentration on Central America and the apparel industry, but it has
published work on and lead campaigns in China and other places.
Kernaghan and his group initiated the Holiday Days of Conscience against
sweatshops three years ago, and he originated the idea of public
disclosure of contractor sites for Wal-Mart and others. He is most
famous for revealing the sweatshop and child labor conditions in Central
American factories making the Wal-Mart/Kathie Lee Gifford line. He is
recently in the news again, protesting the harassment of El Salvador
workers making the Kathie Lee line when those workers spoke to foreign
visitors about their problems. He urges student activists to try to keep
their institutions out of the FLA, and urges the formation of more
rigorous labor standards and better independent monitoring than the FLA
provides. Kernaghan spoke to a large crowd at Clark in 1996.
For further information about this timely debate, contact, Patrick Derr,
professor of philosophy at Clark and chair of the advisory committee, at
(508) 793-7128, or Clark professor of sociology Robert J.S. Ross, at
(508) 793-7376.  Ross will introduce and chair the session.
- www.clarku.edu –



Debate: “Should Universities Join the Fair Labor Association?”
7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10, 1999
Jefferson Academic Center Room 320
Clark University
Sponsored by Student Government Speakers Forum

Jonathan Rosenblum and Charles Kernaghan, two prominent players in the
“sweatfree” movement and workers’ rights, will tackle the question in a
debate. The “sweatfree” movement has involved campuses nationwide, as
both activists and administrators consider how to ensure that college
and university licensed apparel is made under fair labor conditions.








--
Robert J.S. Ross                              Voice: 508 793 7376
Professor of Sociology                        Fax:   508 793 8816
Clark University                                 rross@clarku.edu
950 Main Street                      http://www.clarku.edu/~rross
Worcester, MA 01610
USA

Debate 11.10.doc