University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank announced Friday the university will require all UW apparel licensees to sign onto an agreement that ensures Bangladeshi garment factory workers’ safety and well-being, according to a press release.
The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh will guarantee workplaces contracted by UW licensees will undergo independent safety inspections and necessary repairs, according to the release. It will also ensure the regular payment of factory workers.
The UW-Madison Student Labor Action Coalition and the Labor Codes Licensing Compliance Committee, a shared governance group that advises the chancellor on issues relating to the UW’s code of conduct, have encouraged Blank to sign the accord since last September.
The decision to sign onto the accord came following a formal recommendation by the LCLCC, 10 days before a deadline imposed on Blank by SLAC.
SLAC recently created an online petition urging students to support signing the agreement, which members planned to deliver to the chancellor Friday morning before hearing news of her decision. The MoveOn.org petition garnered more than 1,700 signatures in approximately a day and a half, SLAC and LCLCC member Melanie Meyer said.
Meyer said she and the rest of SLAC fully support UW-Madison’s decision to sign onto the accord and have been very pleased with the amount of student support they have seen on the issue.
“It’s definitely a great step that the university has required its licensees to sign onto the accord,” Meyer said. “The next thing is that we’re going to be concerned with is basically seeing how the university goes about enforcing that requirement.”
Meyer added it is important for UW-Madison to use its leverage as a large licensing institution and become a frontrunner for workers’ rights, a sentiment echoed by the chancellor.
“As a national leader in promoting better working conditions for those who make our licensed collegiate merchandise, we believe that our licensees sourcing in Bangladesh have an obligation to help improve the safety standards for workers there,” Blank said in the release.
By signing onto the accord, UW-Madison joined 10 other schools across the nation who have already done the same, Meyer said.
The decision came approximately one month before the anniversary of the Rana Plaza factory collapse, which killed 1,134 Bangladeshi garment workers in April 2013.
