Inspired in part by recent campaigns across the nation aiming to improve labor conditions in overseas factories, students from UMBC's Solidarity Coalition have turned their attention to UMBC's contracts with apparel companies such as JanSport -companies which have been linked to overseas manufacturers producing "sweatshop" labor conditions.

The push for labor rights has been a staple of American tradition that, despite an overlong lapse in focus in recent history, has finally begun resurfacing across the nation and worldwide. A strong, and growing, focus has been on retail giants' continuing use of "sweatshop" factories to produce the great majority of cheap commodities we take for granted. These factories have become notorious for their harsh labor conditions, with several of them being found guilty not only of overworking and employing children younger than 13 because "they have better eyes," to quote one factory manager, but several have also been found guilty of forcing abortions on unwilling women and other forms of serious physical abuse.

Students, faculty, and members of the UMBC community have been focusing on the school's adoption of the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP) and joining the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC). The WRC is meant to serve as a more thorough and labor-conscious NGO than the current Fair Labor Association (FLA). Though a non-profit, half of the FLA's board is made by apparel companies that continue sub-contracting overseas to factories that have received negative reviews and claims of "sweatshop" conditions, and it has also continued to fail at properly monitoring factories under its watch.

The WRC, though currently much smaller in scale, has a more thorough and objective monitoring practice, with emphasis on protecting the privacy of individual laborers and manufactures. Its board is composed of an assortment of academics, labor organizers, economists, and labor-rights experts.

The WRC has been gaining momentum, with over 180 schools currently participating, including the likes of Georgetown, Columbia, and Cornell. As members of the WRC, participating schools will join in the DSP, slowly and effectively adjusting their contracts so as to eventually work solely with retail contractors that produce their products through labor-friendly factories and subcontractors while still retaining competitive prices.

The push for fairer labor practices comes at a time when greater focus and support has been seen globally. Even China itself, one of the largest providers of overseas labor, and notorious for its use of "sweatshop" factories, has received a great deal of attention in the world press for its recent shift towards providing stronger labor rights, with many factory workers being able to collectively bargain as they see fit.

Within the state, Maryland's "Sweat Free" campaign has recently received a great deal of support for its push of bill HB 290 which would have all state-funded contracts be free of sweatshop labor. One of the co-sponsors of the bill stated that if organizers and citizens "continue to reach out to legislators over the interim, we will pass a Sweatfree law in Maryland in 2009."

At UMBC, planning and administrative meetings have been ongoing since Fall 2007, with development meetings occurring between students, UMBC contracting officials, bookstore employees, and even representatives of JanSport. The meetings and proposals were started by members of UMBC's Solidarity Coalition, an activist group on campus whose previous efforts include organizing a nationwide five-day hunger strike protesting the Iraq occupation and campaigns focusing on shedding light on previous perceived injustices incurred by UMBC's service employees.

UMBC officials have been receptive to the propositions included in the WRC and DSP, though nothing has been made concrete. In the meantime, administration meetings with students and labor activists are ongoing.

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