(U-WIRE) DURHAM, N.C.-Duke’s local anti-sweatshop movement just went national.
Four members of Students Against Sweatshops traveled to Washington, D.C. late last week to address the Senate Foreign Relations Committee-an indication that the student-led anti-sweatshop movement may be gaining some national political clout.
Casey Harrell, Trinity senior and spokesperson for the delegation, testified before the committee as part of its hearings on the International Labor Organization’s Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labor. The treaty, adopted unanimously in June by ILO delegates from 174 countries, is intended to eliminate the exploitation of children through pornography, prostitution, slavery, hazardous work and compulsory military service.
“It was just a good chance to talk about what we’ve been doing here, for one thing, and also to talk about some of the struggles we’re going through right now,” said Trinity sophomore Justin McBride.
In a five-minute speech prepared collaboratively by the student delegation, the group’s members used their experiences with the college apparel industry to illustrate the need for stringent regulation paired with a credible regulatory mechanism.
“The World Trade Organization has extensive protections for intellectual property rights, but it has yet to allocate time to address even the most heinous of labor abuses, much less ways to enforce any standards already in place,” Harrell said in his testimony. “This exhibits a lack of true commitment to addressing labor abuses worldwide…, something which a convention addressing a topic as narrow as the worst forms of child abuse simply cannot salvage.”
Although the group demanded supplementary labor regulations, it expressed its support for the treaty-which has encountered little opposition because of its limited scope and emotional appeal.
“It eliminates the worst forms of child labor abuses. Who’s going to be opposed to that?” asked Trinity sophomore Kelly Armstrong, one of the SAS delegates.