Every article of clothing that bears the University logo was made in a sweatshop. This means the worker who produced your sweatshirt is probably in an exploitative situation. Perhaps she has to take birth control and perform sexual favors to keep her job. Or maybe his passport was taken upon arriving at a new country to work, and now he's trapped in the factory with no outside contacts. Management in sweatshops will verbally, physically and sexually abuse workers. They will fire the brave leaders who try to stand up to this injustice, thus preventing any kind of union that workers might try to organize. On top of all these abuses, workers may make pennies an hour during 14-hour shifts.

The University knows that its apparel has always been made in these conditions, and it has taken some steps to change this fact. In 2001, the University accepted the Code of Conduct for University of Michigan Licensees after Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality put the pressure on administration. Among other things, SOLE conducted a 53-hour sit-in at the office of then-University President Lee Bollinger. The code specifies that everything bearing the University logo must be made in sweat-free conditions. The University also joined the Worker's Rights Consortium, a body that monitors factories that create University apparel.

However, these choices have shortcomings. Just writing out standards and "monitoring" factories does little for the workers in this type of industry. Clothing brands do not own the textile factories that produce our clothes. Brands like Nike or Adidas take bids from many different factories and hire the one that costs the least. But if workers in a factory appeal for better working conditions, the brand can simply "cut and run," and move its business elsewhere. Workers fear that their requests for better conditions and fair pay will cause brands to abandon the factory, shutting it down.

Instead of this "race to the bottom," SOLE and other student groups across the country would like to see a "race to the top." If the University accepts the Sweat-Free Campus campaign, brands will need to buy from a list of factories that have been certified by an independent worker's rights body and are continually monitored. Factories that want access to the lucrative university market will be forced to compete through higher labor standards, making it a lot harder for brands to cut and run. As a final trump card, workers can opt to be taken off the list if they feel, after a mediation process, that their rights are being ignored. This puts the workers' well-being in their own hands - exactly where it should be.

Will this make a difference for consumers? Doubling a sweatshop worker's wage would add another 14 cents to the average garment, so students will definitely not need a second job to express their school pride. However, the Sweat-Free Campaign will mean giving hope and real power to the hundreds of thousands of garment workers who face oppression every day. Therefore, it's not surprising that students have already passed this proposal at other campuses, such as Georgetown University, the University of Wisconsin at Madison and others. Hopefully our University will take this step before more workers lose their lives in the struggle for labor equality.

Finally, it's important to recognize the impact the mere idea of the campaign has had. David Alvarado, a Guatemalan union organizer, expressed his appreciation in a letter, saying: "Know that you have been in the thoughts of many here in Guatemala. With the only two garment unions in Guatemala, we have spent much time talking about the campaign that you have launched. There are pictures of your protests in September hanging on union bulletin board at the Cima and Choi factories and they are, literally, a beacon of hope for hundreds of workers who are trying to organize and being met with heavy repression."

But don't take it from us. SOLE will be hosting Sweatshop Workers Speak Out today, at 7:30 p.m. in the Michigan Union's Pendleton Room. Workers from Thailand, Indonesia and Kenya have come to tell us exactly why the fight to end sweatshop labor is real, vital and necessary.

Everts is an LSA freshman, Reyes is an LSA sophomore and Bates is an RC senior. All are members of SOLE.