Students and Workers Demand a Sweatshop-Free UC

On October 5, 2005, UC Santa Cruz students, workers and Santa Cruz community members held a rally in the Baytree Plaza to raise awareness about the sweatshop-made uniforms purchased for dinning hall workers and the sweatshop-made UCSC apparel. Demonstrators also demanded that UC Santa Cruz adhere to their own Code of Conduct which prohibits the purchase of apparel made in sweatshops. After the rally in the Baytree Plaza, we marched to the office of Chancellor Denise Denton which is in the same building as the McHenry Library.

It was not a surprise that Chancellor Denton was no where to be found. Instead, the chancellor's assistant, Ciel Benedetto, was presented a list of ways that UCSC can respect workers rights without purchasing from sweatshops.

Why is it that the University of California purchases goods from sweatshops and then marks up the retail price so high?

Why is it that the university can justify paying numerous police officers, Dan Wood from UCSC's demonstration response team and the guy in charge of campus labor relations to escort the demonstration?

Wednesday's action was organized by AFSCME, Comercio Justo and the Student and Worker Coalition for Justice, as part of a national campaign sponsored by United Students Against Sweatshops, UNITE HERE! and Global Exchange.

for more information, check out these posts on SC-IMC

Students and Workers Demand a Sweat-Free UC

Rockin' the Boat: Students Rally for Sweat-Free Campus

UCSC is in Violation of their Code of Conduct

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Crossposted at Santa Cruz Indymedia: Part I & Part II.