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news
Sweatshop graffiti
makes its mark
By Jamie Rogers
On-line Forty-Niner
Cal State Long
Beach students were greeted on the first day of classes by
a graffiti message displayed on the brick wall outside the
International Food Court Building, in front of the escalators.
"Boycott CSULB
sweatshop t-shirt," was written in barely legible black
paint over the red brick. Roman Gulon, general manager and
CEO of Forty-Niner Shops, Inc., the auxiliary organization
that runs the University Bookstore, said he was surprised
by the message.
"This was
the first indication of any kind of sweatshop issue brought
up on this campus," Gulon said. "I was surprised.
I was also disappointed they put it on the brick because it
is hard to take off."
University Police
was informed of the vandalism, according to Dispatcher Patrick
Banks. He said the Forty-Niner Shops did not file a report
and said they would clean the graffiti themselves.
The Forty-Niner
Shops purchase t-shirts and other products from numerous vendors,
according to Gulon. All of these vendors issue different policies
regarding the use of sweatshops. In addition, Forty-Niner
Shops have issued their own policy statement.
"The sweatshop
policy statement that we are complying with is the same one
that CSULB endorsed," Gulon said.
According to Armando
Contreras, executive assistant to CSULB President Robert Maxson,
the university doesn't have a specific policy regarding purchasing
products produced in sweatshops.
"There is
no set campus policy that I know of that says you can or can't
by from sweatshops," Contreras said. "It is more
of a philosophical or moral statement. The philosophical belief
is that it is wrong to take advantage of people."
While CSULB doesn't
have a specific policy regarding sweatshops, the California
State University system does.
"The CSU is
opposed to any acts or omissions by a licensee that would
constitute labor abuse," stated an executive order signed
by CSU Chancellor Charles Reed. "Officers and employees
of the CSU and its auxiliary organizations will use their
best efforts to ensure that licensees adhere to non-abusive
labor practices, including the provision of safe and healthful
working conditions."
As a member of
the CSU system, CSULB is required to adhere to this policy.
It becomes difficult, however, for CSULB to know under what
conditions goods are manufactured when auxiliary organizations,
such as the Forty-Niner Shops, purchase goods from several
different vendors, many of which have multiple levels of corporate
ownership.
"It is very
difficult to know exactly where products are made," Contreras
said. "So, we must try to be especially sensitive to
that possibility."
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