Date of publication: April 22, 2006
Source: Brattleboro Reformer
Author: Darry Madden, Reformer Staff
BRATTLEBORO -- Students fighting for a "sweat-free" school are redoubling their efforts before their next meeting with the Brattleboro Union High School Board.
Earlier this month, the Child Labor Education and Action Project proposed that the board formally affiliate with the Worker Rights Consortium, a nonprofit organization that enforces manufacturing codes of conduct adopted by colleges and universities. The affiliation would apply to the factories that primarily manufacture band and athletic uniforms.
No high school has yet affiliated with the WRC. Brattleboro Union High School would be the first.
The board responded by saying it would read over the contractual materials, as well as present them to the school's lawyers.
School Board Chairman David Dunn said this week that the lawyers have not yet looked over the documents.
"We're hoping to get a view of the contract from the lawyers," said Dunn. "But the board members have been reading them over, and I have been doing my own research and formulating my own opinions."
Dunn said that regardless of what the attorneys say, the board will need to make a "philosophical" decision about whether this is something that the taxpayers want.
The annual fee, according to CLEA, is $500, but Dunn says his reading of the contract indicates it could be as much as $1,000.
Dunn said that the board's decision will have financial, social and political implications.
Fiona Mahurin, a member of CLEA, said that the group has a game plan.
"We realized that we need community support, and that's one of our main goals," said Mahurin.
To that end, the group plans to solicit written statements of support from individuals, businesses and school organizations. They plan to man a table at the upcoming May gallery walk where people can learn about the campaign and sign a petition to show their support.
As part of its outreach, the group hosted a workshop for middle school students at the recent Youth Summit, and will host another for high school students at today's Youth Activism Conference at the Putney School.
Ultimately, CLEA would like to see Putney School students start their own campaign against sweatshop labor.
Members also have plans to attend workshops at the School for International Training on their own public speaking and leadership.
They are thinking of conducting a survey of the student body, to get a sense of the support.
Mahurin said that board would love to have a representative from the WRC come from the Washington, D.C. office, but that it wasn't holding its breath.
Nancy Steffan, an outreach coordinator with the WRC, said that they were short-staffed, and that it was unlikely, though a formal invitation from the board might be more effective in getting a body to Brattleboro.
In order to affiliate with the WRC, the school must adopt a code of conduct to which it holds the factories that manufacture its apparel. In addition, the school must provide the WRC with the names and locations of those factories, with research that would be completed by CLEA.
The idea is that, instead of seeking out alternative, nonsweatshop apparel, the schools put pressure on pre-existing factories to rectify any human rights violations they are committing.
"We commend students for bringing this item," said Dunn. "I personally feel it's very good for them to challenge the board."
The BUHS board meets to discuss the issue at its May 15 meeting.