General InformationCurious about what HSAS does, what Harvard's relationship to sweatshops is, and what you can do about it? Satisfy your craving here. The Basics - Our basic one page fact sheet for beginners. The Independent University Initiative - In 1999, Harvard administration helped organize and fund, along with the University of Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State and the University of California, the Independent University Initiative to investigate working conditions in factories that produce university apparel. The report confirmed terrible working conditions, such as forced pregnancy testing, forced overtime, the presence of carcinogens among other health and safety violations, and limitations on the right to organize, in every factory visited. MIT Professor O'Rourke's criticism of the IUI - MIT Professor O'Rourke, who accompanied the for-profit monitoring firm, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) in the IUI investigations, notes the shortcomings of their investigation. PWC routinely missed the presence of carcinogens, rarely interviewed workers, and failed to recognize falsified timecards, among other indications of general incompetence. Harvard Code of Conduct - In 1998, the Harvard administration alongside HSAS drafted a code of conduct. The code states that "we will also work cooperatively with other universities to develop independent monitoring and compliance systems so that we can have reasonable assurances that these standards are in fact being followed in the workplace." Now the University claims that the code was "just a draft" and has pushed the matter aside completely. Harvard Initiative on Apparel Production and Human Rights - Created by students and endorsed by over 30 faculty members, this initiative includes full disclosure of factory conditions, membership in the WRC, and several academic studies on methods of monitoring, compliance with local laws, and environmental impact of export processing zones. |