Make UMD Sweatshop-free! Adopt the DSP now!

We have become aware that University of Maryland apparel is manufactured in sweatshops where workers encounter inhumane working conditions including sub-minimum wages, no benefits, non-payment of wages, union busting, forced overtime, sexual harassment, verbal abuse, corporal punishment, and illegal firings. We find this unacceptable and we request that University of Maryland support the basic human rights of these workers by publicly endorsing the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP). The DSP would enforce UMD's existing labor codes of conduct in the factories that manufacture the University's licensed apparel. The DSP is the only comprehensive solution to University of Maryland's continued reliance on sweatshop labor.

We, as students, faculty, staff, and members of the Maryland community would like to see our university act as a leader in the struggle to ensure that the rights of workers producing apparel for our university are respected. Our position as a top seller of collegiate apparel means that we should be setting ethical standards. As of now, forty-two major colleges and universities have distinguished themselves as leaders by adopting the DSP, including Duke University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Georgetown, and the entire University of California system. It is our expectation that, given our university's stated commitment to workers' rights, we will soon become the next University to join this list. We ask that you publicly endorse the DSP and to commit our university to adopting it as university policy.

We look forward to working together to ensure that UMD becomes a leader in the struggle for human dignity.

Thank you for your time and consideration.


University of Maryland student groups that publicly endorse the DSP include:

*Feminism Without Borders
*Asian American Student Union (AASU)
*Community Roots
*NAACP-UMD Chapter
*American Indian Student Union (AISU)
*Latino Student Union (LSU)
*Amnesty International-UMD Chapter
*Students and Workers Unite (SAWU)
*International Socialist Organization (ISO)
*Peace Forum
*Muslim Student Association (MSA)
*Muslim Women of Maryland (MWM)
*Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc.
*Chi Iota Pi Sorority, Inc.