UW-Madison officials held a workshop Friday to explore methods of improving labor standards around the world.
The workshop featured activists and researchers from throughout the country who spoke about the need for retailers and manufacturers to pressure global supply chains to raise labor standards.
Among the retailers discussed were Columbia and Nike, who supply a large amount of UW-Madison's collegiate apparel.
Along with Chancellor Biddy Martin, speakers at Friday's event included Richard Locke from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Bonnie Nixon from the Global Social Compliance Program.
According to Martin, UW-Madison's participation in the Collegiate Licensing Consortium and the Workers Rights Consortium has made the university one of the current leaders in the movement to improve labor standards.
Martin said she was ""delighted"" to be a part of the movement through UW's activism.
""I can also tell you … how proud I am that the University Wisconsin athletics is a leader of the attempt in trying to improve labor standards,"" she said.
The Student Labor Action Coalition has historically put pressure on campus officials to push for better labor conditions among UW-Madison's clothing manufacturers.
According to Nixon, retailers need to forcefully negotiate towards reducing poor labor standards with both the large and small suppliers they do business with.
""[Retailers] also need to balance out the desire to pressure the big brands,"" she said. ""Ninety percent of the brands in most sectors are not being exposed at all.""
Locke said the issue of raising labor standards is ""more complex"" than just calling for more action from supply chains.
""We have to not just get consumers to rally around and point fingers at the brands and say, ‘why aren't you doing a or b?', consumers actually have to walk the talk—we have to be willing to pay more for the products that we want,"" he said.
In addition to initiating a more recognizable debate about alternative ways for improving labor standards, participants of Friday's event hoped to refine public perception of labor standards as well.
