An urgent message from the Make UT Sweatshop-free Coalition. UT Students are occupying the President’s office. Take action below to support students and demand the University finally sign on to the WRC.
They say everything’s bigger in Texas, and it’s true. That’s why right now, I’m with 17 students occupying the President’s office at the University of Texas, which rakes in more money from the sale of our University-logo apparel than any other school in the world. We’re sitting in because President Powers has refused to join the Worker Rights Consortium, the most fundamental step towards ending sweatshop abuse in the more than 4,400 factories making Longhorn apparel.
Take action now! E-mail President Bill Powers and call him at 512-471-1232 today to tell him to take a stand against sweatshop labor and affiliate with the WRC.
In 2010, companies like Nike made more than $100 million selling Longhorn apparel in over 4,400 factories around the world; yet their workers are deprived of wages they can survive on, face sexual harassment, and even risk their lives in the fight for dignity and respect. For years, we’ve asked that the University live up to its core values and join over 180 Universities across the country to put an end to this abuse by joining the WRC. President Powers has repeatedly told us that this “case is closed,” but 25 student and community groups in Texas have joined the Make UT Sweatshop-Free Coalition to let him know that students and workers won’t let him close the case on workers’ rights.
Tell President Powers that ten years is too long to tolerate sweatshop conditions and to affiliate with the WRC; call him at 512-471-1232.
Texas is the most anti-worker state in the country. But as we say at the University of Texas, “What starts here changes the world,” and we need your support to win WRC affiliation; we believe in the University of Texas, and we are ready to fight to uphold our school’s core values, even if it means facing arrest.
In Solidarity,
Billy Yates
Students Against Sweatshops at the University of Texas