Your wages, which were just above minimum wage, have left you with no savings and you are panicking about how you will manage to pay for rent, electricity and food.,”
Imagine showing up to work for a job that you badly need in order to feed your children and being told that your company had shut down and you no longer have a job.
Your wages, which were just above minimum wage, have left you with no savings and you are panicking about how you will manage to pay for rent, electricity and food. What can you give up so that your family can survive the next week, month or year?
This is the grim situation hundreds of workers in the Dominican Republic faced. The tragedy is that they found themselves in this situation because they dared to fight for a more dignified life with fair wages and decent working conditions.
The more painful realization is that despite the fact that we are thousands of miles away, we as a Marquette community could have prevented this from happening.
BJ&B – the factory that closed – produced hats with university logos which were sold on campuses throughout the country.
The BJ&B factory was a rare case in the apparel industry: It was one of a handful of factories that provided wages above the local minimum wage because the workers had collectively organized a union.
This union had addressed low wages, physical and verbal abuse, unpaid overtime, forced pregnancy tests, sexual harassment and health risks at work. The workers stood their ground amidst threats from management.
With international pressure from universities and human rights groups they won real improvements at work. BJ&B showed that despite all the forces working against sweatshop workers, it was possible to win improvements and not be trapped in poverty-wage jobs under abusive conditions.
However, soon after the workers won improved wages and decent working conditions, companies began to reduce their hat orders at BJ&B, undermining the significant progress that had been made. The race to the bottom in wages and working conditions in the apparel industry has led to more and more unionized factories shutting down.
Brands are making conscious decisions to shift production to lower-cost facilities where workers' fundamental rights are violated.
The Designated Suppliers Program was created to counteract the destruction wrought by these corporate decisions. The DSP uses universities' buying power to funnel clothing orders to factories providing living wages and a voice for workers.
DSP aims to allow consumers and workers to join forces to alleviate some of the downward pressure on wages and working conditions, and keep factories like BJ&B open.
Thirty colleges and universities across the country have adopted the DSP and made a public commitment to implementation of the program. Marquette is seriously considering the adoption of the DSP.
The closure of factories such as BJ&B highlights the urgency and importance of support for the DSP. Students should be pleased that their administration is concerned with these violations of human rights. However, action must be taken so that no more cases like BJ&B occur. Please support the adoption of the DSP at Marquette University.
Dettmann is a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences.
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