Step 1. Spreading the word
- Holding a successful Fairtrade stall
- Sweet Injustice: The chocolate game
- Winning them over: Frequently Asked Questions
- From football to fashion shows: More ideas for Fairtrade events
Step 2. Get Fairtrade products stocked in your school or university
Step 3. Becoming a Fairtrade school or university
If the response from decision makers is not positive, you immediately need to start building up the pressure. We suggest you do this in two ways:
Counter their objections
Ask them to explain the reasons for their reluctance to support your Proposal and then work out how to convince them. For example, if they think Fairtrade costs lots more money, you could get in contact with other schools and universities who already sell Fairtrade to show that this isnīt true. Or if they are worried there is no demand from students you could do some market research or launch an “Iīll buy Fairtrade” pledge to prove otherwise.
Get student and staff support
Hopefully you’ll already have built this up in the initial stages of your campaign, so now’s the time to use the power of numbers to achieve your campaign objectives. Apply the pressure by:
- Asking your allies to write to key decision makers in support of your Proposal.
- Getting students and staff to sign a petition or pledge stating that they will buy Fairtrade if it is on offer.
- Selling Fairtrade products as often as you can in your school/university and keep records of how much you sell and how much money you make, so that decision-makers know that Fairtrade is profitable!
- If you have a Studentsī Union, you could get your allies in there to help you get a motion passed calling on the college or university to work for Fairtrade status. See the P&P Groups Guide for information on how to pass a motion, and a sample motion for you to adapt.
The P&P group at Canterbury Christchurch University had an early victory in their Fairtrade campaign a couple of years ago when they convinced the catering manager to stock Fairtrade. The group had done some awareness raising around the university for a few months, but hadnīt really had the chance to convince enough students of the benefits of buying Fairtrade. As a result there wasnīt enough demand for the Fairtrade products being sold and the university stopped selling them. However, the group rose to the challenge, and jumped straight back into enthusiastic grassroots awareness-raising. As Rachel from the group says “We’re very much involved with raising awareness of fairtrade amongst students. We’ve done a ‘dance on injustice’ night at the student union, and given out free tea and coffee, among many other things.”
As a result “the university is behind itī” again and theyīre hoping to get Fairtrade status soon!
If you don’t feel that you can actually demonstrate this support you probably need to do some more campaigning and awareness raising amongst students and staff. Without genuine support, even if you do manage to convince decision-makers to stock Fairtrade products, it’s possible that there won’t be enough demand for them, which might undermine your campaign.
Getting Tough
Although campaign success depends on generating enthusiasm amongst decision makers for Fairtrade, if someone decides to block your proposal from going through then you will have to turn up the heat. You’ll need to get as many people as possible to support the campaign and demand Fairtrade status, as this will make it much more difficult for decision-makers to say no.
At university, now you have identified your allies within the SU, you can prepare a motion to be passed through the union that obliges decision makers to consider Fairtrade when making new contracts. Find out when the next Union General Meeting is and when the deadline is for getting a motion on to the agenda. See the P&P groups guide for information on how to pass a motion and a sample motion which can be adapted for any campaign.
At school you could ask a sympathetic teacher to approach the Head, or bring up the proposal at the next teachers’ meeting.
- You could perform a press stunt to expose the fact that they don’t want to make the switch to Fairtrade. Invite student and local media along and even get a story with a photo in the local newspaper. See the P&P online groups guide for advice on organising protest actions and working with the media.
- You could challenge the caterers, someone from the SU or a teacher to a debate about Fairtrade or even invite a Fairtrade producer to come and talk - contact the Fairtrade Foundation to see if any speakers are available.
- Launch an email or letter writing campaign to lobby the person who is responsible for the block.
- Hold a public meeting at school or on campus with speakers from all the groups who support the campaign and a guest speaker - who could be from a Fairtrade company, someone from a local Fairtrade towns initiative or even a producer. Invite the VC/Headteacher and someone from the catering staff and make sure that all your campaign supporters are there. Publicise the event well beforehand; the more people that attend, the more pressure will be exerted.
- Organise a one-day boycott of the canteens, with a picket at the entrance asking people not to go in. You could give out free Fairtrade food or drinks elsewhere as an alternative.
You could focus your protest actions around two ideas:
- Firstly the moral imperative of Fairtrade: focus on the exploitation involved in the production of non-Fairtrade products. There is no excuse for buying products that involve not giving workers fair pay or decent working conditions; especially by an institution dedicated to education which, ideally, should be promoting civic responsibility.
- You could also make the point that if a majority of students and staff want Fairtrade products, and they are the ones buying things from school/university catering outlets, then the school/university is under some obligation to take their wishes into account.
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