At the end of last semester the Senate approved and Student Government enacted a policy to use sweatshop free clothing producers for the many different t-shirts RUSGA and Student Life creates.  For further questions, concerns, or inputs email Molly Moss at rusgasjs@regis.edu.

The Committee’s goals were as follows:

1.  Examining the social and economic consequences of RUSGA’s sweat free policy.

2.  Implementing the most ethical policy possible by the end of the semester.

3.  Educating the student population about our sweatshop policy.

Through this process the committee came up with the following Sweatshop Free Policy:

Date:                     18 April 2011

Resolution:           Sweatshop Free Policy

Sponsor:               Dr. Tom Reynolds, Vice President of Mission

                              Dave Law, Director of Student Activities

Purpose:              To ensure that Regis University’s clothing purchases are made responsibly.

Whereas:            

Most manufacturing companies have an ethical policy statement ensuring customers that all employees and subcontractors are paid according to local government guidelines.

Whereas:            

These guidelines do not necessarily guarantee that workers are promised a safe environment, free from coercion and harassment, or that they are paid a reasonable living wage.

Whereas:            

It is our responsibility as a Catholic Jesuit University to ensure the companies we do business with are morally sound.

Whereas:            

We recognize this choice is not the easy route but know that we have a moral responsibility both to acknowledge that human dignity is more valuable to our University than cheap apparel and to act accordingly by purchasing only from ethically responsible producers.

Whereas:            

We recognize the unavailability of sweatshop-free athletic apparel, but in order to promote greater awareness of this justice issue will work to allow athletes the opportunity to speak out against companies guilty of human rights abuses. 

THEREFORE BE IT ENACTED BY THE REGIS UNIVERSITY STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION THAT…

Regis University continually seeks to move toward a “100% sweatshop-free, ethically produced apparel” campus. Although this seems unattainable, we hope to implement steps to continually seek this goal.  First, this calls for critical examination of our current spending habits.  As a student organization, we would like to withdraw our spending from American Apparel as we feel this complacent “safe option” does not meet our stated goals of searching out more ethical, progressive spending of our university dollars. Second, we will create a selective directory of trusted, independently verified, ethically sound apparel providers with whom to do business. Third, we call for an extension of awareness into the athletic department with education and the opportunity for student athletes and staff to voice their distaste for current practices in athletic apparel production.  Fourth, we call for extension of our policy to all university-wide departments.  Lastly, we call for an extension of our policy to the bookstore and other external vendors.  Our efforts are in the hope of creating a world where workers are guaranteed a “living wage” and rights concordant with their inherent value as human beings.

Respectfully Submitted,

RUSGA Sweatshop Committee

Molly Moss, Jenn Evon