On Friday, Lamarr Billups, special assistant to the Chancellor, announced UW-Madison would require wage disclosure from all 450 of its licensees. Billups said that the UW would develop an individual plan with each licensee that would require it to disclose wages twice a year. If any licensee refuses wage disclosure, Billups continued, its contract with the university would be terminated.
The university refused to add a rider to already-existing contracts requiring that each of the over 3,000 factories producing UW-Madison goods disclose its wages as the two groups behind the wage disclosure efforts, the Student Labor Action Coalition and the Labor Licensing Policy Committee, had hoped. Nonetheless, to require any type of wage disclosure at all is a major step in the right direction. Chancellor Wiley listened to the concerns of students, faculty and staff alike in requiring wage disclosure. We commend him for his decision.
The wage disclosure policy shows this university is serious about forcing its licensees to honor the already-existing clause in their contracts stating all factories producing UW-Madison merchandise must pay the legal minimum wage. If the university does in fact terminate contracts with licensees that fail to comply, it will greatly help the cause of international workers' rights.
UW-Madison is one of very few universities in the country that currently requires wage disclosure. This decision continues in the progressive tradition of this university. It also sets good example for other institutions. If this university is able to successfully put pressure on companies to treat workers in less developed countries more fairly, it is not unreasonable to hope other universities throughout the country follow suit.
This is only the first in a series of small steps UW-Madison can take to promote fair treatment of workers in third-world countries. Often, the first step is the hardest. We hope the university continues to take strides that encourage companies to set humane standards for its overseas workers.
In the past, this page has expressed skeptical hopes that the administration would listen to its students, faculty and staff and ask for wage disclosure. Chancellor Wiley did in fact take the ideas of groups such as SLAC and the LLPC into consideration. He also showed he does factor in the concerns expressed by members of the university community when making decisions.
