As Michigan wolverines, we do not take our commitment to the University lightly. When we see our block “M” being tarnished, we know better than to take shit like that. We take action. Yet the use of sweatshop labor to produce our University apparel continues to tarnish Michigan’s reputation.

This afternoon, two sweatshop workers Manuel Pujols and Julio Castillo from the Dominican Republic came to the Michigan Union to speak on their working conditions and their struggle to unionize. They are both from TOS Dominicana, a textile factory owned and operated by Hanesbrands, Inc. When Hanes established TOS Dominicana, they promised their workers decent working conditions and wages. “After six months, it became very evident to us [workers] that we were not getting what [Hane’s] promised,” Pujols said. That’s when Pujols began to organize a union, and coincidentally, that’s when he also got fired.

Though they have taken all the legal steps in the Dominican to establish a union, Pujols said, Hanes fails to give the union any recognition. Though work shifts in the Dominican Republic are legally limited to 8 hours, workers in TOS Dominicana usually work 12 hour shifts with a one hour break. Starting their day at 6 am, they break for 15 minutes at 9 am, 30 minutes at noon, and 15 minutes at 4 pm.

Castillo said that Hanes does not hire any pregnant women at the factory, and will not hesitate to fire any female worker who gets pregnant. They also enumerated on the many health risks the workers are facing. “Because we work with cotton that produces a lot of fibers,” Castillo said, “many workers are developing severe respiratory and throat problems.” Due to the loud machinery in the factory coupled with the long hours, many of the workers have also developed hearing problems and loss.

Pujols and Castillo’s stories are not unique. They described the typical conditions under which our Michigan apparel is being made. In 1999, the University adopted a Code of Conduct which (in theory) would prohibit University apparel from being produced in sweatshops. In practice, the Code—lacking enforcement measures—have yet to be effective. “The Code of Conduct is not working, it’s just a piece of paper,” said Blase Kearney, a member of SOLE (Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality).

After Pujols and Castillo spoke, audience members signed letters to President Coleman, urging her to honor the Code of Conduct by signing on to the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP). The DSP, which has been adopted by over 30 prominent Universities, would serve as a enforcement mechnism. As described by the United Students Against Sweatshops, the DSP would mean that “University logo apparel goods will be sourced form a set of designated supplier factories that have been determined by universities to have affirmatively demonstrated full and consistent respect for the rights of their employees”.

For more information about the DSP and SOLE, go here.