Students Sit-In at York University President's Office Demanding a No-Sweatshop Policy
Forty students have been sitting outside the Office of the President at York University since 2:00 p.m. today, demanding that the university implement a no sweatshop policy. "York University has been stalling in negotiations over a no sweatshop policy for three years," said Terrance Luscombe, a student and member of the York Sustainable Purchasing Coalition. "We're not leaving until the President gives us an answer." Negotiations between the university's senior administrators and the Sustainable Purchasing Coalition to negotiate a no-sweatshop policy began three years ago. Recently, the Coalition submitted a draft policy for York University to use to monitor the manufacturers of its apparel to ensure that workers are not producing York goods in sweatshop conditions. York University's legal counsel rejected this proposal and drafted an alternative. "York University's counter proposal is an anti-sweatshop policy in name only," said Luscombe. "It doesn't offer any real protection for the workers who are abused when sewing York University t-shirts."