Two students hand-delivered a letter to Penn State President Graham Spanier Friday demanding the university suspend orders to New Era Cap, which produces Penn State baseball caps, because the company is being investigated for alleged violations of workers' rights.
"It's time that they listen to the students," Doug Baldwin (senior-environmental research), a member of United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), said of the Penn State administration.
"We're not gonna stop this campaign ... until we start receiving good news."
Baldwin delivered the letter with Chris Stevenson (freshman-psychology), a member of the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP).
The letter demanded Penn State stop its work with the New Era Cap factory in Mobile, Ala., until the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) can complete an investigation on worker complaints. The deadline for the investigation is Feb. 11.
Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers said WRC is already conducting a preliminary inquiry at New Era and Penn State is waiting for WRC to provide its findings.
"Right now, it's just an inquiry," she said.
"Until we may know exactly what is happening ... I don't think it's necessary to stop [operations] with New Era."
Baldwin went to Mobile the weekend of Jan. 19, where he and 18 student members of USAS chapters from 14 universities questioned 20 current workers and workers who had been fired.
Some of those questioned were workers who claimed to be fired on the basis of harassment or who had approached Teamsters, a labor union-forming organization. James Curbeam, a Teamsters organizer, said 29 to 30 labor relations charges were filed by the workers against the company.
Last summer, about 20 workers, affiliated with forming a new union, were fired, said Dana Marciniak, corporate communications manager of New Era Cap.
The employees were let go because of a change from a manufacturing company to a distribution company in 2006, not because they were involved in forming the union, Marciniak said, explaining that workers were required to pass a test during the change.
"Some left to Jackson; some didn't pass; or some people decided to leave New Era altogether, which makes up the 20 people," Marciniak said.
The Fair Labor Association (FLA) conducted an investigation of the factory in September 2007, Marciniak said, adding that the FLA concluded workers were treated fairly.
FLA audit reports are released publicly, but its report on New Era had not yet been released, Curbeam said.
WRC tried to perform an investigation but was denied by New Era.
"We [have the] highest level of FLA accreditation," Marciniak said. "We're not refusing to let the [WRC] in; they're refusing to compromise with us." SLAP member Nikki Bracy (sophomore-theatre) said the workers are not being treated fairly.
"The workers are being denied basic human rights, " Bracy said.
Bracy said until Penn State takes action, SLAP and USAS will inform students of the issue through campaigns. One campaign is to convince the university to adopt the Designated Suppliers Program, which members say requires apparel to be made in factories where workers' rights are protected. "We're not trying to attack management," Baldwin said.
"The workers like what they do. They like making hats; they just want to be heard."
