Monday, October 11-Chicago, IL:
Our first event in Chicago was at DePaul University's downtown campus, where about 125 students participated in a 2:00 p.m. meeting. What was special about this meeting was that it was composed largely of business majors. It was good to see that some emphasis on ethics is finally creeping into business schools. This is an important development.
That evening we were at Northeast Illinois University, which turned out to be another one of the fine surprises we had during the tour. Though NEIU is largely a commuter campus, the auditorium was packed to overflowing with 300 to 350 people. The Provost of the school opened the event. There was excitement in the air. The meeting lasted three hours, from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m., and the questions were still pouring in.
This is another example of the student-faculty alliances that can generate such excitement and awesome organizing.
The entire event was filmed for cable TV.
Tuesday, October 12 - Chicago, IL:
Tuesday started early with an 8:00 a.m. labor breakfast sponsored by the UFCW, with the participation of AFSCME, Jobs with Justice and the University Professors. AFSCME's vice-president and District 31 director, Henry Bayer, who has long been a supporter of the anti-sweatshop movement, participated in the breakfast.
From there, we drove out to a 1:00 p.m. event at DuPage University, which is in one of the very conservative suburbs of Chicago-Henry Hyde's old district. Here the students and a very progressive faculty member delivered another home run. Over 100 students participated, and as elsewhere, nearly everyone wanted to help. We then had to speed back into Chicago for an interview with Chicago Public Radio/WBEZ, which is located on Lake Michigan on the Navy Pier. Jerome McDonald, host of the "Worldview" program was so decent with the workers that everyone felt at ease. We thought the interview went very well.
Afterward, we celebrated by riding the Navy Pier's large Ferris wheel. The workers took loads of pictures and, surprisingly, didn't seem the least bit frightened. It was cold though. Afterward we ate and started the four hour drive to Fort Wayne, Indiana at about 8:00 p.m.
On the Skyway leaving Chicago, we stopped at a McDonald's to use the bathroom. As we walked in with the Bangladeshi workers in their colorful "three-piece" garb, we were surprised to see that a whole group of Amish people were also in McDonald's. Together, we made quite a wonderful scene.
Wednesday, October 13 - Ft. Wayne, IN:
We had a 1:30 p.m. event at Indiana U-Purdue U. Another uplifting surprise awaited us as we walked into a large room crowded with well over 120 students. Once again, the event was filmed for local cable access TV. One older man, a retired electrician, drove 160 miles round trip to be at the event. He explained that he and his wife had been following our work for years. It was great to meet him. It was also great to see so many faculty at the meeting, along with students and a local labor leader. The students plan to build an anti-sweatshop chapter.
Afterward, feeling very excited, we again embarked for another five-plus hour drive, this time to Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Thursday, October 14 - Grand Rapids, MI:
We had just one event that day, and it wasn't until 7:00 p.m. It was to be a community meeting at the historic, beautiful and very active Fountain Street Church in downtown Grand Rapids.
We were very lucky. The fall weather could not have been more beautiful, and a river that ran right through the downtown area was full of salmon swimming upstream to spawn. There were lots of people fishing. Robina, Maksuda, Sk. Nazma and Rafiq were really fascinated by the huge fish, and enjoyed their walk around town very much.
The Gerald Ford Library and Museum is also located in Grand Rapids. This was his district and evidently quite a conservative area.
The event at Fountain Street Church was organized by the church's youth group, made up overwhelmingly of high school students. They did such a great job that they packed the auditorium with yet another overflow crowd of nearly 200 high school and university students and members of the community. Local TV covered the event.
The meeting was filled with excitement, anger, sadness and the real commitment to provide solidarity to these and other similarly exploited young workers all across the developing world. Firsthand, it was confirmed to us again and again how possible it would be to develop a large-scale, vibrant anti-sweatshop movement with real people in real communities all across the country-but it would require even a modest level of funding which is not currently going into the anti-sweatshop movement.
The Grand Rapids high school students really rock!
Friday, October 15 - Detroit, MI:
We left early for the three-hour drive to Detroit. We were to speak at an 11:30 a.m. "Lunch & Learn" meeting at Sacred Heart Church. We knew what to expect and told the workers that they were going to be among real friends. We have done several of these "Lunch & Learn" meetings, and this one was another great success. Over 100 religious, labor and community activists were there, including retired Bishop, Jesse DeWitt, and representatives of the UAW, UFCW and Detroit's Central Labor Council. There were even high school students there.
The Interfaith Committee on Worker Issues in Detroit, headed up by Father Norm Thomas, Sister Cathey DeSantis and Theresa Guillean, is doing some of the best local grassroots work in the country. They are going after Wal-Mart with creativity and spunk, and could be a successful model for others.
There was even some concrete good news. Soon after we passed through Detroit last year to speak at Wayne State University with workers from Honduras, Wayne State changed course and joined the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC). This was great work by the students.
At 2:00 p.m., we were at Dominican girls' high school. Over 200 juniors and seniors attended the meeting. Maybe they didn't know what they were getting into, but once there, they were totally engrossed. Remember, this was a Friday afternoon. Yet when 3:00 p.m. rolled around few people wanted to leave and the talking and questions continued right into the schoolyard. These young women couldn't believe that other young women-really not that different from themselves-were being treated so miserably. Clearly the students were moved and wanted to help.
It was a former student from the University of Dayton, who was involved in the anti-sweatshop movement there and now teaches at the high school, who organized the event. Networks like this are being built across much of the country.
Another giant ride was ahead of us. We climbed back into our minivan-every day more and more resembling a space capsule, crowded with people, luggage and campaign materials-and began the six-hour ride to Pittsburgh.
Saturday, October 16 - Pittsburgh, PA:
Even though it was Saturday afternoon, over 60 people attended the 2:00 p.m. forum held at Duquense University in Pittsburgh. It was an excellent meeting. After tons of questions and a lively discussion we left for Freedom Square for a small but very moving rally. This is an historic site where the largely African-American community drew the line in the sand and wouldn't let the city developers destroy anymore of their vibrant neighborhood to make way for more corporate offices. Local Fox T.V. covered the rally.
These events were organized by the Pittsburgh Anti-Sweatshop Community Alliance, which has run a very effective campaign targeting the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball owners. They were able to stop Gildan sweatshop T-shirts from being distributed at Pirates games as part of a bank promotion.
That morning, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette carried a very important article on their work and that of the NLC in pressuring Major League Baseball to finally enforce strong worker rights protections in their procurement contracts. This is an ongoing battle.
That night we drove east for about 200 miles stopping at around 10:00. We ate in a truck stop.
Sunday, October 17:
The long drive to Boston. Off we went for eight or nine hours. The foliage was beautiful.
Monday, October 18 - Providence, RI:
We only had one event late that evening at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. We used the day to walk around Harvard's campus where we stopped several times to film interviews with the workers and Sk. Nazma. We knew this was an historic trip and we wanted to document such moments.
The meeting at Brown was another one of those that were put together on short notice. We had no idea what to expect. But the students organized their hearts out and the auditorium was filled with 200 people. It was very packed. One of the lead organizers was sophomore Katie Panella. However, her roots in the anti-sweatshop movement go back to Brattleboro Vermont, where she was part of the terrific high school Child Labor Education and Action Project, better known as CLEA. This was the strongest high school anti-sweatshop group in the country, with high schools from across the state organized. The lead organizers for the Oxfam chapter joined Katie and together they pulled off a great meeting. Excitement was in the air.
Sometimes things just click. That night the Brown students really got it. The Bangladeshi women standing before them -- who were their very same age - would have to work for 110 years to be able to afford to go to Brown for even one year, and then only if they didn't eat or rent an apartment in those 110 years. Also, when the women reach 30 or 35 years of age they are kicked out of the factories, because they are worn out and exhausted, and their eyesight goes and they can't afford glasses. It is cheaper for the companies to throw the "older" women out and bring in a new crop of girls. It sunk in, as the students realized that just as their lives would be taking off, finishing graduate school, beginning careers, starting families or traveling across Europe, the lives of these workers before them would be over and they would be thrown out in the streets with nothing.
That night, the anti-sweatshop chapter at Brown was reborn, or rather rebuilt with enormous enthusiasm and an outpouring of new members. The students were on fire and they want to act.
As soon as we can we want to put the students in touch with the organizers at the over 30 other colleges we will have visited and with the dozen or more high schools involved. The goal is that these students begin talking to each other and taking the lead.
The power of these face-to-face meeting, and putting a human face on the global economy by brining students together with the young workers from the developing world who make our clothing, never ceases to amaze us.
Tuesday, October 19, Boston MA:
This is going to be a busy day. We have three very important events.
Our first meeting was at noon at Brandeis University. This was another meeting arranged at the last minute, and at an odd time, but it too turned out to be excellent. Thirty to forty students showed up, and a new anti-sweatshop chapter is being formed. The local newspaper covered the event, as well as the school newspaper. Most people across the country read their local paper and the students their school newspapers, so the impact of the tour went well beyond even the crowds we spoke with, reaching tens of thousands more students and people in these communities.
Afterwards, we had lunch in the student cafeteria, and we all agreed that Brandeis had the best food of any of the colleges we had visited.
The Harvard event was at 4:00 p.m. A cold fast rain had been falling all day and it was miserable. This was the worst weather we had on the entire trip. It didn't help with the audience, which was smaller than expected. Still, nearly 50 brave people showed up, and Harvard's newspaper covered the event - so we got our message out.
Despite the Red Sox's World Series game that night, the Boston College event was - as we had told the workers to expect - packed. It was a full auditorium with over 300 people. We had been there with delegations sever times over the years and we knew the power of terrific student organizers like Nick Fuller-Googins and Jay Blair working together with great and respected faculty members like Charlie Derber and Juliet Schor. They always pack the house. The anti-sweatshop movement is alive and well at Boston College and it has never wavered.
Sitting among all the college students were there very young teenage kids. It turns out that the Workmen's Circle, along with a nearby synagogue, brought out its entire youth group. It's great to see the anti-sweatshop movement drawing in younger and younger people. One can only imagine what terrific organizers they'll be by the time they get to high school, let alone college.
It struck us at Boston College how important it is to also present the positive side of the anti-sweatshop movement and all the victories that have been won. There are 15.3 million college students in the U.S. with a combined purchasing power of $268 billion. This is power. One of Nike's directors of sports marketing put it like this: "our goal was to hook kids to Nike early and hold them for life." In other words, US corporations spend $245.5 Billion a years on advertising, or $837.88 on every man, woman, and child in the country, to brand us so we will be their loyal consumers for the rest of our lives. The biggest nightmare corporations have is that young people will wake up and start asking serious questions - Why are the factories that make the goods we purchase hidden from the American people --- how old are the workers, what are they paid, are their rights respected, how do they live, do they have enough food for their families? This is why students have such enormous power - more power than any other sector of society to end sweatshop abuses. Corporations must listen to what students say as they are terrified of losing young people as loyal consumers for the rest of their lives. And let's face it; college students are the future leaders of our country. Corporations don't want to mess with them.
The students were excited to hear an update on the results of last year's tour, when we had also visited Boston College, but with garment workers from Honduras who sewed the Sean John label. Sean Combs, or P. Diddy, did the right thing. Today, at the SETISA factory in Honduras, the women no longer have to face mandatory pregnancy tests; the locks have been taken off the bathrooms and the workers are free to use them when they need to; a new purification system guarantees that the workers have access to clean drinking water; the workers are no longer physically and verbally abused as the production manager and worst supervisor were fired; the factory is now air conditioned; the workers have health insurance; all overtime is voluntary and paid correctly; and workers have a union!
The students cheered. It is certainly important to hear good news once in a while. But as a matter of fact, solidarity almost always works, if we raise our voices loud enough and run a good campaign.
Scores of students hung out afterwards. Finally we had to tear ourselves away as we had a 100 mile drive ahead of us to Northampton in Western Massachusetts. Again, we got to bed well after 1:00 a.m., also unable to find any food at that time of night.
Wednesday, October 20, Northampton, MA:
Our first event was at 10:00 a.m., at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where we spoke to a large women's studies class with 200 students in the auditorium. The impact was again powerful and the response excellent. Many of the students signed up on the emergency response listserv to be part of this campaign. Many of the students came up afterwards to thank the women for their courage.
We reconvened at the very beautiful UMASS Labor Center for a quick lunch followed by a seminar, which also went very well. These were serious students.
Our next meeting was at 4:00 p.m. at Smith College, back in Northampton. We arrived early, and took advantage of one of those rare and most beautiful fall days to walk around Smith's campus. The meeting was in one of Smith's oldest building in this beautiful hall. The place was packed, and all of us felt a rush of excitement. This was a particular treat for us, since it was a former N.Y.C. high school anti-sweatshop activist, Emma Rodderick, now a sophomore at Smith, who was the lead organizer. Many afternoons she and other high school members of SCALE worked out of our office in N.Y.
It's impossible to describe why it is, but some meetings just click, and this was one of them. The hour was intense and the emotions ran deep. There was also plenty of faculty at the event, which is always a positive sign.
Smith's anti-sweatshop chapter surged ahead with plenty of new recruits. We left feeling ecstatic.
The meeting was taped by a Canadian filmmaker and also covered by both the school and local area newspaper.
Our final event of the day was at Hampshire College at 7:30 p.m. The meeting was small but exciting. For the first time on the trip the students supported civil disobedience and sit down actions inside Wal-Mart. At first it didn't sound to practical, but the more we thought about it….
We raced back to Northampton just in time to get Indian take out, something the workers insisted upon as they had a hankering for rice.
Thursday, October 21, Northampton, MA:
Thursday was to start with a 9:00a.m. meeting at Northampton High School. As we were driving there we were already planning for the four to five hour ride that lay ahead of us, as we had to be in Northern Vermont later that afternoon for a 4:00 p.m. event at Saint Michaels College. We were going to have to move fast. All of a sudden we started to notice several groups of middle school children, coming from different directions, all walking in single file with their teachers. Soon it was obvious they were coming to our event! As we got closer we could see that students from other high schools were also arriving. High school students even came from Vermont, part of the CLEA anti-sweatshop group. This was going to be good. The event was off the charts. There were 600 middle and high school students packed into a full auditorium. The local newspaper was there along with cable access T.V.
All of a sudden, the house lights went down, and only the stage was lit. The Bangladeshi workers spoke. You couldn't see the audience, so none of us had any idea how it was going. However, when the lights went on and the questions started pouring in it was clear this meeting was on fire. It was possibly the most emotional meeting we had during the entire trip. Many of the high school students were crying when they came up afterwards to hug the Bangladeshi women. These students were moved, and they won't forget and they definitely will act. We left there on fire ourselves. You got the sense that the lives of some of these students had been changed forever.
Behind all great happenings there is usually someone working very hard. Tom Weiner, a middle school teacher and a long time genuine activist in the Northampton area was just that person. His impact is huge.
Needless to say, the drive to Burlington Vermont was a real pleasure. The workers told us that the bright flood lights that morning, glaring down on the stage and in their eyes, made them feel disoriented and sick. It really was amazing. How could they have spoken so well - they have never spoken publicly in the past, and certainly had never been up on a stage like this. Again, it was their serious sense of mission, that they were here speaking for 1.8 million sister and brother garment workers in Bangladesh. Nothing else mattered.
During the drive, the workers had their first chance to see a small globe that we had purchased. They had no idea about time zones or the vast size of the oceans.
Charlie had already spoken at St. Michael's University twice in the past, and both times it was great. So expectations were high. We weren't disappointed as we walking into an auditorium packed with more than 300 students - and this was 4:00 on a Thursday afternoon. After the presentations the questions poured in. That evening the Women's Center - in their beautiful new home - hosted a meal for our delegation. St. Michael's has a terrific core of committed student activists, many of whom were present at the dinner. It was a real pleasure to spend time with them. Later that night, Tomas took the two young Bangladeshi workers for a hike around campus, visiting student dorms and knocking on doors. The workers wanted to see how U.S. students live. They thought it was very nice and they liked the huge posters and rock music.
The next morning at the cafeteria, more students joined us for breakfast and to talk. These students were on their way to India for a month of working with the poor. St. Michael's, like a growing number of good universities, is also striving to include social justice issues as an integral part of their core curriculum. It has been our experience however, that without the right vehicle, a committed faculty, it doesn't get off the ground. Thankfully St. Michael's has Father Mike Cronogue and Dr. Paul Olsen, who are the real thing.
The student newspaper covered the event along with an alternative weekly.
Friday, October 22, Burlington, VT:
Late that morning, we checked into our hotel in Burlington, and when we drew back the shades we found we had the most spectacular view of Lake Champlain and further east the Adirondack mountains in N.Y. State.
Our event at the University of Vermont was at 2:00 p.m., on Friday afternoon. It was also 80 degrees and one of the most beautiful days of the year. Who would possibly be at our meeting? Well over 100 student showed up, and sever of the students were actually in tears the whole time the workers spoke.
The event was organized by the Progressive Student Alliance, and it is a virtual certainty that they now have more than enough new recruits to form a new student anti-sweatshop chapter at the University of Vermont. Here too, the student newspaper covered the event. Besides the ones who came to the event, thousands more students had the chance to read about the miserable conditions these teenage garment workers faced in Bangladesh sewing garments for Wal-Mart.
From there we went to a beautiful synagogue in Burlington to speak before the service began. What a pleasant surprise to walk in and have the rabbi say that he has followed the work of the National Labor Committee for years and that we are his heroes. Needless to say, we got along great (p 26). No one wanted to end the meeting and services almost started late.
Our night ended at the Peace and Justice office/store located on Burlington's most popular street. A local Bangladeshi couple had cooked us a potluck dinner, so that Robina, Maksuda, Sk. Nazma, and Rafiq could feel at home. It was a pleasant night.
We went to bed thinking that the next day would be a little boring, as we had nothing planned.
Saturday, October 23, Vermont:
Saturday morning started off slowly, until Phil Fiermonte called. He was anxious to meet with the workers. Phil is the Chief of Staff in Vermont for Congressman Bernie Sanders, and a good friend. We walked over to his office. After talking for a while, we all went out to a nearby Indian restaurant for lunch. Almost immediately, Phil's cell phone rang. It was Congressman Sanders, and he was on his way to join us. CBS Channel 3 T.V. news came with Congressman Sanders, so we held an impromptu press conference inside the restaurant.
It was another one of those incredibly beautiful days, so Congressman Sanders insisted upon taking the time to walk us around his beautiful city of Burlington. It soon turned into a people's tour, as everyone on the street called out to him - the all know "Bernie." Mini discussions broke out on the race to the bottom in the global economy. None of us had ever experienced anything like this before. It was fantastic, and Burlington is a beautiful and active city.
Congressman Sanders then invited us to join him at a Town Hall meeting on U.S. jobs and the global economy which was being held about 100 miles north of Burlington in the small town of Newport, just five miles from the Canadian border. It was definitely far north, as a large black bear ran behind our car on the way there.
There was a huge crown of people there - nearly 200, and there were real working people, at least 1/3 of them Republicans. Congressman Sanders gave us a chance to speak and it was amazing how warm and kind everyone was to the Bangladeshi delegation. All the questions were about domestic issues, jobs, wages, the race to the bottom in the global economy, health care, pension, flu shots, the cost of gas, etc. This is how real old-fashioned participatory democracy should be done. We were honored to be there.
We got back to Burlington after 10:30 p.m., having to dodge a lot of raccoons and possums on the way. But as Burlington is a real city with a vibrant nightlife -fortunately unlike so many other dead inner cities we saw on our tour - we found a terrific place to eat and drink.
We all agreed that this was one of the most special days of the entire tour, and we need to thank Congressman Sanders, Phil, and all the wonderful people of Vermont.
Sunday, October 24
We had a six hour ride to central Connecticut. Lucked out again, and the weather was beautiful.
Monday, October 25, Connecticut:
Our first event on Monday was at Central Connecticut State University at 12 noon. It didn't look to promising when we first got there, but then the students started arriving and the auditorium soon filled up with 85-100 people. It was another great event organized entirely by the students. The students cleared us out of most of our videos, reports, and campaign materials. This happened everywhere we went. Many also signed up to join the campaign. One terrific student in particular was behind this event, Kris Notaro, and he is going to keep pressing even harder. There will be a very active anti-sweatshop chapter at Central Connecticut State.
We jumped back in the van and headed to Yale for our 4:00 p.m. meeting. We were doing what is called a "Master Tea", held in a large, stately and beautiful living room, which could easily hold 60 or more people. 120-150 showed up, some people sitting on the floor, even backed up into the bathroom and out the front door.
The meeting was intense, with lots of solid questions. A little after 6:00 p.m., we had to wrap the meeting up or we had the feeling it would have gone on indefinitely. At least 20 of the student activists hosted us for dinner at a fine Indian restaurant.
This is the second time we visited Yale with a delegation - last year with the Honduran women who sewed Sean Comb's clothing line. Thanks to supportive faculty and to the amazing student activism of Sarah Stillman, we now have a tradition going and an open invitation to always return.
The Yale student newspaper covered the event.
It was amazing to watch the two teenage Bangladeshi women - who never had a chance to go to school couldn't read or write, and who had never even seen a globe or a map - lecturing to students attending one of the most elite universities in the world, many who will end up in positions on real power. Although the gap is so enormous and tragic between the developed and the developing world, when we were all together in this room there wasn't much which divided us, except some have money and others don't. The Bangladeshi workers had every bit the courage, dignity, and intelligence of their audience, and everyone knew it. Face to face like this, with real people, the global economy shrinks and we are more alike than we ever imagined.
The student anti-sweatshop chapter at Yale will certainly be revived and back on the scene, stronger than ever.
Tuesday, October 26, Long Island
Very tough and long day ahead of us. Up at 4:45 a.m., with a drive to catch a 7:00 a.m. ferry across Long Island Sound. Once in Long Island, we had to work out way to Hofstra University for an 11:00 a.m. event. We needed plenty of coffee and tea to pull ourselves together.
Once again we were so amazed and grateful to find, even at 11:00 a.m., another packed auditorium - well over 150 people. Students were even standing at the back. The questions again poured in at the end. When student activists have the support of key faculty, like Greg DeFreitis the events are always great.
Back in the van and off to St. Francis High School in Queens for our second event of the day at 3:00 p.m. We had no real idea what to expect. It was another beautiful Indian summer like fall day, and we had our doubts about how many students would attend.
Once again, incredibly, we found over 150 students crowded into the room, and since there weren't enough seats, students sat on tables and on the floor. This was once of those powerful, rare, focused and emotional meetings. These St. Francis High School students were on fire. They bonded with the Bangladeshi workers immediately. There commitment to help runs deep. In fact, within a matter of days, the students had collected 1000 signatures on a petition to support the Bangladeshi workers demands, and they are planning a demonstration at Wal-Mart. In just one hour, the students raised $220 for the worker rights struggle in Bangladesh. The High School newspaper covered the event.
Once again, it was the powerful combination of a core group of student activists along with a phenomenally dedicated faculty member, Jane Baricelli, who the students adore.
More and more we are convinced, that with adequate resources, a massive high school anti-sweatshop movement could be built. This is a victory waiting to happen.
We left St. Francis High School for Queens College for our next event at 7:00 p.m. The New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) was organizing it, so we knew it would be solid. NYPIRG does some of the best campus organizing we have ever seen. As we expected it was a good solid meeting with 60 students present, which is great especially given that this is a commuter school. Several faculty members were also there, along with a surprising number of Bangladeshi students. Eventually we had to tear ourselves away as we still had a 100 mile drive ahead of us to Trenton N.J. We got in at 11:00 p.m. Exhausted, we ate some pizza and crashed.
The anti-sweatshop movement at Queens College was certainly strengthened
.
Wednesday, October 27, Trenton N.J.
We are in the home stretch now. Everyone is exhausted after more than four weeks on the road, but at the same time thrilled and energized that the tour has gone so well, exceeding our wildest dreams.
Our first event was at noon at the College of New Jersey in Trenton. Over 100 students participated and it was another terrific meeting. We believe, that here too, a student anti-sweatshop chapter will be organized. It is also interesting that so many business school faculty are the ones supportive of the events.
From Trenton, we straight to Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, stopping only to eat some fried chicken. Our event was at 4:30 p.m.
Charlie had spoken at St. Joseph's several times, and said we should expect a great meeting, with lots of students participating. Sure enough, it was a full house, with more than 200 students present, along with many faculty. St. Joseph's filmed the whole event for further use in their classrooms. A very lively discussion followed the talks, which we actually had to cut off as we would have been there all night. NBC Dateline was there and filmed a part of the event. Afterwards, NBC correspondent Chris Hansen did a sit down interview with one of the workers.
St. Joseph's is one of those rare schools that have effectively brought ethical discussions right into its course work, including in the business school. And it is done is a way which must be very much alive, for like Boston College and a few others, a core group of students are committed to human rights and social justice issues, not in the abstract, but as activists. We feel certain that Professor David Steingard has a lot to do with this.
The event was followed by an Indian supper at the beautiful campus ministry house, where we could continue our discussion with the student activists.
The student anti-sweatshop chapter at St. Joseph's is alive and well, and growing.
Tired but elated, we jumped in our van and headed to Washington, D.C. We didn't arrive until midnight. There had been a mix-up with our hotel rooms. We had reserved three standard rooms but only two were left. So the Bangladeshi women got to stay in the "Presidential Suite," which had three rooms, two baths, fresh flowers, marble everywhere, huge flat screen TV's, and a view of the Washington Monument. Ordinarily, the suite cost more than $1,000 a night. Evidently, rich people think nothing of spending that kind of money. But we are certain that the most worthy people to have ever stayed in that suite were our friends from Bangladesh.
Thursday, October 29, Washington D.C.
With the election just days away mostly everything was shut down. The workers wanted to see the Capital, so we took a gigantic hike all over the city.
That afternoon there was a meeting with the International Labor Rights and Education Fund. Our big event was at Georgetown University that night. When we arrived a little before 8:00 p.m., there were just two people in the room and our hearts sank. We felt terrible for the organizers. Either the building was out of the way or students just like to come fashionably late, whatever it was, the auditorium was soon filled with over 125 students. It was the Georgetown chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops, which organized the event, and it was great. It was again remarkable how many Bangladeshi students were there, all of them genuinely moved and committed to help. The questions kept coming in and the discussion would have gone on for hours. There was a lot of excitement in the air. We had to pull ourselves away at 10:30 p.m., as we had a five-hour drive ahead of us to New York. As it is, none of got to bed before 4:00 a.m., and we had an 8:30 a.m. labor breakfast that same Friday morning. We were tired.
But the USAS chapter at Georgetown is in great hands; it's strong and it is growing.
Friday, October 29, New York City
Our last day, and on less than three hours sleep we're a raggedy bunch. Our first event was an 8:30 a.m. Labor-Religious Breakfast at Teamsters Local 810 in New York. Dan Kane, President of IBT Local 111 and Dan Kane Jr., President of IBT Local 202 organized the event. It was great, more than 50 people were there, and with representatives from several different Teamster locals we haven't had the chance to work with in the past. There were even two union leaders from Ireland there. A fascinating discussion followed. There was real interest both on the part of Labor and Religion to build a broad based popular campaign to pressure Wal-Mart to respect worker rights. One IBT leader wanted to start informational picketing at Wal-Mart. Our friends from the religious community agreed there must be massive public outreach. The trade unionists supporting bringing labor and religion together internationally, all of whom are trying to deal with Wal-Mart in their own way.
Both IBT locals 111 and 202 are long time solid supporters of the international labor rights struggle. Follow up to the breakfast meeting is already under way.
Our very last event of the tour was a noon meeting at New York University. We walked over and took the Bangladeshi delegation to the site of the tragic 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire where 141 garment workers were killed. That spurred a social movement in the U.S., with labor and religious coalitions forming, the result of which was a burst of union organizing. In their own way, the two teenage garment workers from Bangladesh were doing the same thing. They were putting a human face on the global economy, and exposing for all the abuse and exploitation.
The security at NYU was so severe that for some moments we thought we weren't going to be allowed in. Finally we made it, though a little late. Once again, our spirits were lifted when we walked into the room and saw over 65 students waiting for us - and this was at noon on a Friday afternoon. We felt the same intensity on the part of the students as we have experienced throughout the tour. But there was a special hook with the NYU students, as Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (The Olsen Twins) - who own a mega private label clothing and accessories line worth $1 Billion for Wal-Mart - had just entered NYU as freshman. The twins built a $6 million condominium for themselves, so they could be comfortable. Neither Mary-Kate, Ashley, or Wal-Mart would sign the pledge guaranteeing that any woman sewing their garments in Bangladesh would finally have their legal right to maternity leave with full pay respected. Nineteen companies have already signed, including PVH, Levi-Strauss, GAP, Liz Claiborne, H & M, Sears, Federated, Costco and others - but Wal-Mart and Mary-Kate and Ashley still refuse to.
It is wrong that these enormously wealthy teenagers, May-Kate and Ashley, won't stand up for their teenage sister in Bangladesh to defend one of their most basic rights. It is possible that Wal-Mart won't let the twins sign the pledge. The NYU students will try to reach Mary-Kate and Ashley, and in a friendly non-confrontational way to try to reason with them.
At the end of the event one student came up to us explaining that he is an International Economics major and that in his textbooks there is not a single face of any worker anywhere in the world. He went on to say how the event was a huge eye opener to him and others.
Many students signed up to join the campaign and it is very likely that a strong student anti-sweatshop chapter will reemerge. Professor Andrew Ross, who was one of the first to start writing about the anti-sweatshop movement, has had an enormous impact.
The tour was over. We had driven 6,900 miles visiting 17 states in five weeks, speaking at 51 university, high school, religious, labor, and community events. This was the best tour we have ever had. More than 2300 people signed up to be part of the campaign and more names are coming in every day. One student at St. Louis University is organizing all 500 people in his dorm. The Moeller High School students in Cincinnati are organizing a huge raffle drive to support the women's rights struggle in Bangladesh. St. Francis High School students want to demonstrate in front of Wal-Mart. NYU students will hold a Holiday Season of Conscience candle light rally asking Wal-Mart and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen to do the right thing. The anti-sweatshop movement is alive and well. More will follow.