Global Justice Alliance leaders held the "Sweatshop Effect" on Wednesday, asking Virginia Tech to explore joining the Worker's Rights Consortium on the alleged basis that Tech apparel is possibly made in sweatshops.
Some shirts sporting the Virginia Tech logo are made by Gildan Activewear of Montreal Canada. This year's Maroon Effect shirts were produced in factories operated by Gildan.
Gildan representative Genevieve Gosseline insisted that the company neither owns nor operates plants that follow illegitimate business practices.
"I can assure you that we don't have any. We've been recognized by many organizations including the Fair Labor Association for labor compliance, based on many aspects of inspection," Gosseline said.
In 2003, the National Labor Committee issued a report stating certain Gildan shirts may have been produced in a factory that operated under illegitimate business practices, such as unhealthy working conditions and poor pay rates. The alleged 2003 "sweatshop" factory was in the Honduran municipality of Choloma.
When asked specifically about the plant that allegedly produced Gildan products in 2003, Gosseline said it is not in use by the company.
"It was not one of our plants. I don't have any records of it," Gosseline said. "I don't know if it's closed, but we are not contracting from this facility."
Gildan owns several facilities in Choloma, including a distribution center that opened last year.
Tech is currently a member of the FLA, which monitors factories producing licensed Tech apparel.
GJA is urging university administrators to join the WRC, specifically the Designated Suppliers Program.
National Labor Committee Assistant Director Barbara Briggs said WRC is a transparent, student-friendly organization.
"Essentially, the WRC was formed out of student movements and demands for greater transparency and greater input into the process by the workers themselves," Briggs said.
Briggs added that many companies do not own the facilities that their products are produced in, a practice known as subcontracting.
"Subcontracting is pretty common, and the better companies have worked hard to make sure they are only in factories in their committed list of contracting," Briggs said.
Gildan has closed at least one plant in Honduras that was cited for workers' rights violations, complying with FLA requests. Briggs said many companies that produce Tech apparel, such as Nike and Fruit of the Loom, have dealt with violations.
"They are all companies that have had to engage with this issue and that have come under a lot of pressure," Briggs said. "They aren't the worst of the worst. Gildan especially, has been involved in union busting. All the companies, no matter what their code of conduct says, have engaged in activity that doesn't allow collective bargaining."
Briggs said the major difference between the WRC and the FLA is the people operating them.
"Under the FLA, the companies control the monitoring," Briggs said.
While FLA does have six corporate leaders on its Board of Directors, including a Nike representative, Executive Director Jorge Perez-Lopez said the company representatives have no control over the monitoring process.
"They do not, the FLA audits are totally separate from the board. They have nothing to do with the audits," Perez-Lopez said. "They do not know in advance. There is absolutely zero influence."
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