Report: UM merchandise made in Chinese sweatshop

The University of Michigan is selling souvenir medallions and other items made by workers in sweatshop conditions at a factory in China, according to a new report by an international human-rights group.

The factory is the same one that has been producing crucifixes that were sold at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City and all over the U.S. by a national Christian retailer, according to the report issued Nov. 20 by the National Labor Committee (NLC). The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York pulled the crucifixes from its shelves after the report was made public.

The report contains an order, smuggled out of the Junxingye Factory in Dongguan, China, for medallions with the University of Michigan logo on them. According to the report many other colleges and universities, including Rutgers and the University of Washington, have medallions and pins made by the same factory that produces the crucifixes.

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The connection is not direct, says the report: They are imported through the same company that supplies the crucifixes, Full Start Ltd. of Hong Kong. A Dallas-based company called Team Golf, an official supplier of golf accessories for many colleges in the U.S., is also implicated in the report. They import products through Full Start as well for college golf teams, including double-sided ball markers that are pictured in the report. It is not clear whether Full Start owns the factory directly or whether the factory is owned by a subcontractor.

U-M has been criticized before over similar allegations involving university merchandise, which brings in millions of dollars every year. A call for comment from U-M was directed to Larry Root, a professor of social work who chairs the university’s advisory committee on the issue. He said it was not clear what action U-M might take over the new report.

The campus chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) has for years been urging the university to adopt stricter rules and put a system in place to ensure that companies licensed to place the university logo are not using sweatshop labor to produce the products.

Blase Kearney, one of the leaders of the USAS chapter, says the system the university has now has no teeth. “They’ve got a code of conduct that suppliers have to sign saying they don’t use sweatshops, but there’s no mechanism in place to do any checking to ensure compliance,” he said.

The student group has urged the university to adopt the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP), a protocol developed by the Worker Rights Consortium, an independent labor-rights group that works to reduce the use of sweatshop labor around the world, especially apparel and other products emblazoned with college or university logos. In April, the USAS chapter held a sit-in at the office of university President Mary Sue Coleman and demanded that she meet with them to discuss the issue. Rather than doing so, the university had the students arrested and pressed charges against them. The 12 students are now on probation and recently had to pay more than $6,000 total in fines.

The DSP is a different approach to the issue than the university currently uses. Rather than requiring licensees to agree not to use sweatshop labor, the DSP pre-certifies factories based on their practices. In order to qualify for certification, the factory must: (a) demonstrate compliance with internationally recognized labor standards, (b) demonstrate that it pays employees a living wage, and (c) demonstrate respect for workers