Desiree Evans got a first-hand account this summer of the sweatshop conditions she has been fighting against as a member of Northwestern Students Against Sweatshops.
Evans’ trip to Mexico to tour factories and meet workers was one of several summer activities of NSAS members, who also traveled to Oregon to participate in the United Students Against Sweatshops national conference.
The group will recruit new members this week, said member Neel Ahuja, and then will decide how to use their summer experiences to further the group’s mission.
Evans, a Medill sophomore, hopes she will be able to galvanize interest in new members with tales of her trip to Mexico City, where she and representatives of 10 other schools visited the homes of sweatshop workers.
“They were the nicest people,” she said. “They let us into their homes; they were so willing to talk to us.”
The group walked through garbage-lined streets to reach tiny houses, where they heard details of horrible conditions and forced unpaid overtime.
“It brought home what we’re doing in America,” she said.
One woman stuck out in Evans’ mind. The mother told the group all she wanted was a higher wage in the clothing factory where she worked 10-hour days. She just couldn’t feed her four children, all younger than 10, on her pay of 300 pesos a week — 60 cents an hour.
“It’s sad to think that in five years, these kids will be working in the factory, too,” Evans said.
Living wages were among several topics discussed when NSAS met with members of the NU Board of Trustees at the end of Spring Quarter. NSAS urged the board to join the Worker’s Rights Consortium, a sweatshop watchdog group.
Along with 134 other schools, NU belongs to the Fair Labor Association, a group created to monitor production of apparel and footwear bearing university logos. While similar, the WRC and FLA have several key differences that Ahuja said the university should acknowledge.
“We left with the understanding we would do research and report back to them,” said Ahuja, a Weinberg junior.
Part of the research involved attending the activist conference in Eugene, Ore. Evans and Ahuja gained more information on how the WRC and the FLA differ and on how to mobilize students.
“We met a lot of student activists who were (doing things) very similar to what we’re doing now,” Evans said. “A lot of schools suggested new ideas.”
Evans said she hopes more regional meetings spring from the conference and that Chicago-area schools work together to expose poor working conditions that exist in the city.
Ahuja said his group will continue to support the effort to advance the WRC at NU and at schools around the country. Other goals for the group will be hammered out after this week, he said.
“We’re looking to recruit a lot of new members,” Ahuja said. “With things like the Activities Fair (on Wednesday) we have great potential to grow. The group is going to fundamentally change, and I don’t want to wed to a plan yet. We want people coming in to have a say.”
