Buy Right campaign successes!

Successful WRC motions now passed at Birmingham and UEA Student Unions

Birmingham Students Prove They Would Rather Go Naked…

Due to amazing People & Planet campaigners students unions at the University of Birmingham and UEA are the first UK student unions to agree to join the Worker Rights Consortium.

Students argued that it was not acceptable for their universities to buy clothing that has been made by children as young as 14, by beaten and sexually abused women, and by workers denied their human right to join a union. Now both groups are campaigning for the universities of Birmingham and UEA to make an equivilent commitment to human rights.

Edd Bauer from Birmingham said

getting Birmingham University signed up to the WRC, if successful, would be the most significant and progressive change in UK procurement practices since Fairtrade.

UEA also succeeded in getting a motion past that said the students union will

• lobby UEA to affiliate to the WRC.
• commit to contributing £500 to the affiliation of the WRC to cover monitoring of the unions supply chains.

Sarah Waterfield, student at UEA

Sarah Waterfield, who has been campaigning on ethical procurement at UEA said

It was hard work but it’s been passed at last. UUEAS is now the second student union leading the way by agreeing to affiliate to the Worker Rights Consortium. Birmingham and UEA are calling on their universities to match this progressive step that students have taken towards ending the use of sweatshops in their supply chains

Students at Durham are considering putting forward a referendum on the issue, and students at Dundee only just missed getting their motion passed. At Sheffield students have contacted their university council, and at Loughborough the group has a large petition to hand to their university management.

As the funding council for universities in England HEFCE swings behind the cause of ethical procurement with the new group Sustainable Procurement Centre of Excellence, the Buy Right campaign to spend our money fairly continues to grow in strength.