The following is a spoken word by Anthony J. Maglione (Feminist Students United, Carolina Sweatfree Coalition, and member of the occupation) which addresses the misinformation from Chancellor Moeser and the administration concerning the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP).
False Claim #1 – critical questions have not been answered
Chancellor Moeser
Why won’t you
Adopt the DSP
Perhaps you fret
That far too many critical questions
About the efficacy
Of the DSP
Have yet
To be met
With appropriate answers
Well let me assure you
Answers are hard to find
When you didn’t show
For three years in a row
To meetings
(Of which you promised you’d go)
With your very own appointed
Licensing Labor Code Advisory Committee
And in case you have forgotten
They agreed
Unanimously
In January
To have the WRC
Investigate New Era labor abuses
But you disregarded their decision
With a provision
To have the Fair Labor Association
(AKA the FLA)
Conduct the assessments
Even though they
Have a New Era representative
(Union-busting Tim Freer)
On their board of directors
Which some would say
Is a conflict of interests
But now you’ve set a time
To meet with your licensing committee
This Friday at nine
After we’ll have been
Sitting-in
For over two entire weeks
And I’m sure you’ll try to spin
That it’s always been
Open to discussion
But we all remember
Your 2007 rejection of the DSP
Prior to September
And we all know
This last-minute special convening
Goes to show
The power of our pressure
So this can’t be
The reason why
You won’t adopt
The DSP
False Claim #2 – the DSP may violate antitrust laws
Why then
Chancellor Moeser
Won’t you
Adopt the DSP
Perhaps you worry
That the DSP
May not be
Completely
Risk free
From potentially
Violating antitrust legality
By unfairly affecting
Brand-name licensees
Well let me assure you
You have nothing to fear
Because Don Baker
(Former head of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division)
Has made himself clear
That the DSP
Ensures not only human dignity
But also fair business practices
And the only point of contention
He did mention
Is that licensees
(Not universities)
May conspire
To mire
The DSP
Through illegal collective collusion
Which
By the way
Is how it’s run today
So this can’t be
The reason why
You won’t adopt
The DSP
False Claim #3 – the DSP will affect the Carolina Covenant scholarship
Chancellor Moeser
I’d like to know
Why won’t you go
Adopt the DSP
Perhaps you are concerned
For the students who earned
UNC’s need based scholarship
(The Carolina Covenant)
Because you’re afraid the DSP
Will cut into funds
That the university
Gives to these
Students from
Low-income
Families
But this claim is already suspicious
Because it’s a direct contradiction
To your previous contention
That the DSP
Might be
Questionably
In violation of
Antitrust legality
Since
As I just explained
That argument assumes
That the university
Would be
Receiving more money
From the sales of UNC
Apparel
Thus increasing Covenant funds
But nonetheless
Let me assure you
Even though
We know
It’s unlikely that self-serving licensees
Will absorb all of the increased labor fees
From the DSP’s
Policies
(Which will ensure living wages to workers in factories)
Funds for the university’s
Scholarship base
Would not be affected
This is because
The increased labor cost
Would be passed to the consumer
Who would have to spend
Around seventy-five cents more
On a forty dollar
UNC sweatshirt from our store
To ensure
That their purchase is purged
Of sweatshop labor
And might I add
That it is a cowardly
And disgusting thing
To bring
These scholarship students
Into the equation
Through a false persuasion
Which implies that they should
Feel threatened by the DSP
Because it would be
A negative impact on their livelihood
When we all know
This simply
Is not so
So even this
Cannot be
The reason why
You won’t adopt
The DSP
False Claim #4 – the FLA’s current program is effective
Tell me Chancellor Moeser
Why won’t you
Adopt the DSP
Perhaps you assume
That our current licensing program
(Through the FLA)
Can and should resume
Simply because
They claim to be
Independent and unbiased
For justice and equality
Well let me assure you
As I said before
This organization
(The FLA)
Has a board that includes
(To this very day)
Bigwigs
From brand-name companies
The same ones
Who strangle workers’ liberties
And lest we forget
That Jorge Perez-Lopez
(Executive Director of the FLA)
And others in the organization
Admitted that they
(The FLA)
Tolerate
Virtually universal non-compliance
With the expected standards
Of our university
So surely this can’t be
The reason why
You won’t adopt
The DSP
False Claim #5 – the DSP does not have any momentum behind it
Chancellor Moeser
I ask again
Why won’t you
Adopt the DSP
Perhaps you believe
That there is more momentum
Among other major universities
To pursue alternatives
To the DSP
Since apparently
You are under the notion
That it’s a marginal program
Well let me assure you
Marginal is not the proper term
To affirm
For a program
Adopted by over forty major colleges
(And growing)
Willing to reassess their privileges
And showing
That they want to help create
A market free of sweat
Not to mention
That these standards
Even Duke has met
So this cannot be
The reason why
You won’t adopt
The DSP
False Claim #6 – the DSP will result in factories shutting down
Chancellor Moeser
Please reply
To my
Question
Why won’t you
Adopt the DSP
Perhaps you fear
That DSP policies
Will cause licensees
To terminate ties
With factories
In countries
That do not meet or greet
International labor standards
And thus devastate their economies
By leaving workers jobless
Well let me assure you
The DSP’s
Policies
Would result in
Anything but a boycott
On factories
Because it’s implementation
Is phased in over time
To gradually
Build a capacity
For all factories
To respect the human rights of workers
So that initially
After a six month grace period
Twenty-five percent of the licensees
Supply chain
Must remain
In accordance to DSP standards
And in the final stages
Seventy-five percent of UNC’s
Clothing economy
Would be
Securing livable wages
For the workers
In this garment industry
The process would essentially
And eventually
Create a licensed apparel economy
Of upward mobility
Where workers would be
Freed from
Poverty wages
Forced overtime
Twenty-hour shifts
Industrial accidents
Sexual harassment
Verbal abuse
Union repression
Racial discrimination
Or in sum
Sweatshop labor
And in case you didn’t know
Under our current system
Brands are able to go
And cut-and-run
And be done
With factories
In which workers win a war
Simply for
Livable wages
This happened recently
When Adidas and Nike
Shifted orders from
And eventually closed
BJ&B Factory
In the Dominican Republic
Thus sweatshops remain the norm
Because in this current game
Workers’ lives are exchanged
For the so-called gains
Of corporate profit
So this cannot be
The reason why
You won’t adopt
The DSP
False Claim #7 – adopting the DSP is not a reasonable request
Chancellor Moeser
I’m growing weary
Of inquiring sincerely
Why won’t you
Adopt the DSP
Perhaps you are relying
On denying
Discourse
And remaining in monologue
Rather than dialogue
Because you can simply assert
That we are a misguided
Idealistic
Radical
Force
With an unreasonable request
Or that our action
Is untimely and unwise
Which gives you reason to ignore
When we implore
To restore
Power to the people
Through demonstrations
Well let me assure you
As a man within a Birmingham jail cell once preached
This kind of superficial social analysis
Deals merely with effects
And only serves
To conceal
Underlying causes
By blaming the creation
Of tension
On those who engage in
Nonviolent direct action
But we are the ones
Who bring to the surface
The hidden tension
Already alive
We bring it out in the open
Where it can be seen and dealt with
And it’s a shame to say
That you have put us in a situation
Where we must choose between our education
Or sitting-in
Outside your office
Day to day
And though our grades may suffer
And it’s difficult to sleep
Or keep
Our immune systems up
We are willing to make the sacrifice
Because in the end
The balance between lives and GPA’s
Is not that hard to weigh
But anyway
All of this cannot be
The reason why
You won’t adopt
The DSP
False Claim #8 – dancing will solve problems
Chancellor Moeser
Can you hear me
When I ask
Why won’t you
Adopt the DSP
Perhaps you would rather
Use the beat
Of our chants
To move your feet
And do a dance
Like you did
During the first Friday of our sit-in
Upon leaving your office
When you disrespectfully mocked us
With your awkward
Albeit amusing
Moves
Well let me assure you
Whether you are dancing to our chants for justice
Or dancing around this issue
Your actions are
In fact
Inactions
Because while you do your jig
People far removed from your privileged bubble
Struggle
Everyday
In a way
That you may not ever bother to consider
And this may be
Because your job
Primarily
Is to serve as fundraiser for our university
Which makes you listen
Above all else
To the pleas
Of lobbyists from brand-name companies
But it also makes
Your claim that UNC
Serves all the people of the world
Sound so very
Empty
So once again
This cannot be
The reason why
You won’t adopt
The DSP
False Claim #9 – the next Chancellor can deal with the issue
Chancellor Moeser
I do implore
Once more
While at your door
Why won’t you
Adopt the DSP
Perhaps you think
That since your term is almost complete
You can push the issue under your feet
Or rug
Or whatever other place
And rely on misinformation
To keep the people unsuspicious
Unquestioning
And out of your face
Because your strategy
Seems to be
To wait until the new Chancellor comes
So we’ll have to start back at square one
With this entire process
Well let me assure you
People
Are listening
And learning
And acting
By sitting
And signing
And calling
And organizing
And rallying
Because the time
For change
Is now
Because we want to wear
Our Carolina apparel
With pride
Free
Of the stains
From the pains
Of the hands
That created it
