On May 15th 2007, UW President Mark Emmert announced his decision to support the Designated Suppliers Program. The Designated Suppliers Program or DSP, is an agreement proposed by United Students Against Sweatshops, to ensure that collegiate apparel is produced under conditions that respect human and workers' rights. Once the DSP is implemented, the program will require officially licensed UW apparel to be produced in factories that pay workers a living wage and where their right to unionize is respected. After a three year phase-in period, the UW will source 75% of its apparel from designated factories under the program, with the possibility of the University moving to source 100% of its apparel from these factories in the future.

The Student Labor Action Project at the UW organized this year long campaign, with the support of United Students Against Sweatshops and Washington State Jobs with Justice, and eventually got the UW to adopt the DSP this past May.

In January 2007, they started base-building and educating UW students through tabling and bringing speakers on campus to talk about working conditions in the globalized garment industry.

SLAP also had two representatives on the UW's Licensing Advisory Committee, which was charged by President Emmert to evaluate the DSP (and stall students).

But eventually, SLAP took their campaign to the streets. They staged a mock wedding between the DSP and President Emmert in Red Square. Then they started a campaign announcing they'd rather be naked than wear sweatshop made clothes, and stormed Emmert's office in plastic trash bags. And finally, they crashed a spring BBQ for new freshman with a banner-drop in Red Square, performances by radical cheerleaders, and signs educating potential students and their families of the UW's support of sweatshop labor.

All of this organizing, letter writing and coalition-building resulted in Emmert adopting the DSP.

Way to go UW SLAP!

Also, Students from University of Washington and Seattle University are taking the initiative and connecting with other college activist groups on other campuses. This forming network of student social justice groups is called Student Activist Alliance.

“Our emerging mission is to develop a group the encompasses youth and students from around the Seattle area (though excluding no one) who are motivated and active in social justice issues of any stripe.

We envision ourselves as a network clearing house where different student groups are encouraged to organize together and share resources.”

They will reconvene in the fall quarter of 2007.