We are calling for universities, colleges and schools adopt the following six demands.
1. That the university, college or school has a sweat-free steering group.
The Steering Group will meet at least once a term to consider progress on the six goals and decide how to continue to improve in each area.
- The group should include representatives from: from all unions with members at the institution; residential/catering organisation; the university, college or school authority; the SU executive; an appropriate SU society (such as a P&P group!); This steering group is crucial to make sure that the university, college or school is actually improving it’s performance, buying the best products and paying staff liveable wages.
2) That the university, college or school immediately gains Fairtrade status
If the university, college or school has not already gained Fairtrade status it should implement the five fairtrade goals and apply to the Fairtrade Foundation for Fairtrade Status immediately.
Gaining Fairtrade is an important first step on the road to economic justice and it delivers real benefits for producers. However, more is needed to protect workers throughout the entire supply chain.
3) That the university, college or school:
Purchases sweat-free merchandise whenever possible.
Purchases from Fairtrade Companies whenever possible.
Purchase Fairtrade whenever possible.
Sweat-free merchandise is produced under the ethical employment conventions of the International Labour Organisation. These are basic human rights such as:
- Employment is freely chosen - e.g. no forced labour
- Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are respected
- Health & Safety conditions are safe and hygienic
- Child labour shall not be used
- Living wages are paid
- Working hours are not excessive
- No discrimination is practised
- Regular employment is provided
- No harsh or inhumane treatment is allowed.
4) Pay all staff a minimum of a living wage.
Many workers at UK universities, colleges and schools are paid the minimum wage, which when applied to many parts of the country amounts to poverty pay. A core principal of Redress Education is the belief that we must fight against exploitation and for social justice throughout the entire supply chain; workers rights must be respected from seed to shop.
This demand takes inspiration from successful living wage campaigns at Queen Mary’s University, the London School of Economics, numerous London banks and universities and schools across the United States.
Redress Education strives to be responsive to the views of workers, making every effort to include workers in all our work.
A Living Wage is defined by the Greater London Authority (GLA) as one which: provides a minimum acceptable quality of life based upon wages which ensure that the worker is not earning wages below the poverty line and that there is enough of a margin to meet day-to-day challenges. The GLA puts a London Living Wage at £7.45 more details here of how the GLA calculates a Living Wage
Students at Oxford University used a method of comparing living costs with that of London to determine that a Living Wage in Oxford is £7.20 more details of how Oxford Students calculated a Living Wage.
5) Enable Student Unions to pay their staff a minimum of a living wage by increasing the block grant to cover any costs incurred by paying a Living Wage.
We believe that Student Unions should be paying their staff a minimum of a Living Wage, however students should not bare the brunt of these costs through the cutting of services at their Union. Therefore, through increasing the block grant the university administration should make available the necessary funds for Students’ Unions to pay their staff a Living Wage.
6) Work with other universities, colleges and schools to form a sweat-free buying consortium.
Evidence from the USAS campaign in the US suggests that the best way to ensure sweat-free merchandise in our universities, colleges and schools is to create a Worker’s Rights Consortium (WRC).
USAS explain on their website that a WRC is a
“non-profit organisation created by students, labour rights experts, and workers from across the globe with participation from college and university administrators”.
The WRC’s purpose is to:
“enforce manufacturing codes of conduct adopted by colleges, universities, high schools, and school districts; these codes are designed to ensure that factories producing clothing and other goods bearing school logos respect the basic rights of workers, such as the freedom of association and overtime pay”.
In the US there are now more than 140 colleges and universities affiliated with the WRC, using their leverage in the $4 billion collegiate apparel market to support workers’ rights in the global economy. The WRC has been enormously successful in its support for worker organising in locations from the Kukdong factory in Puebla, Mexico to the New Era factory in upstate New York, as well as the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, and elsewhere.