Do you know who sews your clothes? According to the students of the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP), you should.

SLAP’s goal is to bring attention to the labor practices and worker’s rights of the companies who manufacture UW apparel.

According to SLAP, the UW and President Mark Emmert have failed to meet three deadlines outlined for the University to address these labor issues, the most recent being Oct. 31. The group’s purpose is to establish a plan for the University to change its code of conduct and licensing agreements to further protect workers’ rights.

Demonstrations, such as the “Trick-or-Treat” to Emmert’s office and the “House of Labor Horrors” held last Friday, were executed to bring awareness to students, faculty and staff of the violations of workers’ rights in factories, said SLAP member George Robertson.

“Students can change the way UW apparel is produced,” Robertson said.

Robertson said that workers at Jerzees de Honduras, a Russell Athletic Factory that produces UW logo apparel, recently attempted to unionize, but when workers sat down to make demands and negotiate, they were told the factory was closing.

SLAP believes it is the UW’s place, as a purchaser of Russell products, to step in.

“There is a huge precedent for the UW to take action,” Robertson said. “It is likely it will be successful.”

Eric Mosher, the executive director of creative communication at the UW, said he was concerned about the closing of Jerzees de Honduras.

“We are in the information, fact-gathering and investigation mode now,” he said.

Mosher said groups such as the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and the Fair Labor Association are performing investigations on Jerzees de Honduras.

In regard to Emmert’s lack of response to SLAP, UW spokesman Norm Arkans remains optimistic.

“Mark Emmert normally responds, I’m sure he will respond,” Arkans said.

SLAP recommends the UW change its code of conduct to include the freedom of association and collective bargaining for employees, the right to be paid either minimum or prevailing wage, the guarantee of a healthy and safe working environment and nondiscrimination standards.

SLAP is encouraging the UW to adopt the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP). Under this program, brands would be required to make a three-year minimum commitment for manufacturing companies and factories where workers can enjoy the rights included in the code of conduct and the right to union organizing and bargaining.

Companies would also pay higher prices for goods from factories, and universities would consolidate production into a smaller set of factories where at least half of the goods are for the university market.

In May 2007, the first steps to adopt the DSP were put in motion. A letter written by Emmert stated, “The University supports the objectives of the DSP as they reflect in large part our existing code of conduct” and “the UW is committed to work seriously towards implementation of the DSP.”

However, by January 2008, all bets were off.

A request was made by the WRC, the group in charge of the implementation of the DSP, to the Department of Justice to perform a business review. When it was heard that the Department of Justice would not approve the DSP, the letter was withdrawn.

Non-compliance between the DSP stipulations and United States Anti-Trust Laws has stopped further work on the DSP, Mosher said.

”The DSP is still an aspirational program,” he said.

However, Arkans said this does not mean the UW is not committed to holding its apparel companies to high standards.

“We would like to have athletic gear not produced in sweatshops,” he said.

The process of investigating factories and adopting new contracts is taking longer than SLAP would hope for. Despite the UW’s pace, efforts by SLAP have not halted.

SLAP still encourages the UW to “adopt a revised code of conduct that would ensure that UW apparel is produced under ethical conditions,” Robertson said.

Reach reporter Karleen Scharer at news@dailyuw.com.