Anything But Clothes Rally Against Sweatshop Labor @ UMD on Wednesday
On Wednesday, April 4, students from Feminism Without Borders (FWB) and affiliated campus political groups will be rallying at the McKeldin Mall Sundial at 11:30am and marching to the Administration at 12:50pm to demand again that the University of Maryland sign onto the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP). The University of Maryland has thus far refused to adopt the DSP, which would ensure that workers (usually women of color in the so-called “Third Worldâ€) who produce university apparel be allowed to form independent unions and negotiate living wages. FWB wants to raise awareness of the issue of sweatshop conditions in factories where University of Maryland apparel is manufactured, both to the Administration and the University’s students. Students attending this rally and march will be wearing “Anything but Clothes†(i.e., decorated garbage bags, boxes, saran wrap, paper, and paint, etc.) to make visually clear the fact that they refuse to wear Terps’ apparel while it continues to be made at the expense of workers’ basic human rights. Students will be marching from the Sundial to the Administration Building at 12:50pm. For this protest, the University of Maryland will be joining other District of Columbia colleges and universities and more than 40 colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada in an international day of action demanding that colleges and universities hold brands, such as Nike, Adidas, and Reebok accountable for their continued labor abuses.
“Feminism Without Borders demands that university leaders learn about what is really happening in the factories they claim to be protecting, and work to end it. We ask for University President Dan Mote to sign on to the Designated Suppliers Program in order to make this possible. We will do anything to make this possible. We will even go naked rather than support sweatshops.â€
~Feminism Without Borders member Daniela Vann
The University of Maryland chapter of Feminism Without Borders (FWB) will join the George Mason University chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, American University Solidarity, and George Washington University’s PSU in the DC Sweat-free Day of Action, a series of solidarity rallies in which students will demonstrate that they would rather wear NO CLOTHES than sweatshop clothes, thus demanding respect for the rights of garment workers around the world.
Feminism Without Borders (Jenna Brager)   feminismwithoutborders@riseup.net   443-928-7121
That’s whatz up.
I can give you garment factories.. I live next to one, here in Asia. Interesting – seeing that I live in Asia Pacific. Garment factories? They are here – large and in charge. The owners (The Tan Group) of the major newspaper here made his fortune from the garment industry. A Hong Kong Chinese. Striking Chinese women and men garment factory laborers? Check. Filipina housemaids, nannies, laundresses, etc paid $300 monthly with room, board and insurance paid. With one day off per week? Check. I don’t know exactly what the definition of “sweatshop” is; however, the factories themselves are shameful.. I’ve seen the barracks where the garment laborers sleep 4 or 6 to a room; the main gates padlocked after hours; the security guards; the rooms where the women sit or stand in one position for hours on end… it’s real. Very real. I live 1 minute from such a factory. I could send photographs…