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.
SAS was one of several groups-including the U.S. Department of Labor, the AFL-CIO and the United States Council for International Organizations-to address the committee. A committee aide said Chair and Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., selected SAS to testify because of the North Carolina connection and the group's interest in international labor standards.
Harrell said that although he was excited to represent the student sweatshop movement on a national level, the group was exceedingly careful to make a good impression and earn some respect as a political force. "Compared to what I usually put forth with my writing, we went through this with a fine-toothed comb...," he said. "We weren't trying to be public policy experts; we worked very hard to make sure our testimony did not smack of '[this is just an idealistic] 21-year-old college student.'"
Another member of the SAS delegation, Trinity sophomore Snehal Patel, said the group's message was well received, especially by the committee's more liberal senators. "In general, the senators were quite receptive to our message and respectful for our movement," he said.
President Bill Clinton has long been a vocal supporter of the treaty, which would require all ratifying nations to eliminate abuses of child labor as outlined within the document.
The only real controversy surrounding the convention came with a compromise allowing people under 18, considered children by the treaty, to serve in the military. A number of powerful countries, including the United States, Britain and Germany, all recruit 17-year-olds; the United States requires parental consent. Instead of a strict age limit, the treaty now prohibits "forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.