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CCC Reference Guide on Code Implementation & Verification
Section 3. MSI's and other overseeing mechanisms

Workers Rights Consortium (WRC)

wrcUnlike the other initiatives described here, the WRC does not have companies as members. Its focuses on the implementation of codes that are adopted by the approximately 100 US-based colleges and universities affiliated to the WRC. The provisions of these codes are to be respected by those companies that are authorised (licensed) by these schools to manufacture goods bearing their school logos.

The WRC was founded in April 2000 on the initiative of the 'United Students against Sweatshops' (USAS), partly out of disagreement with the rules and practices of the FLA at the time. In addition to the affiliation fees from colleges and universities, it receives grants from foundations and from the US Government.

The WRC is governed by a board that consists of representatives of college and university administrations, USAS and the WRC Advisory Council. Each of these groups has 5 representatives. The WRC Advisory Council consists of individuals who were chosen as experts. Most of them have an academic background or come from organisations involved in advocating labour rights. The Advisory Council also has several trade unionists as members, from the US, as well as from other countries.

The WRC does not support "certifying compliance" of factories. It works to develop ways for workers to lodge confidential complaints about code violations. Affiliated schools require their licensees to provide the WRC with the names and locations of factories where the goods are made. The WRC organises factory investigations, usually in response to allegations concerning the working conditions in factories. The WRC works with licensees and suppliers in addressing problems and correcting code violations.

This initiative grew out of the anti-sweatshop campaigns of the United Students Against Sweatshops in the US, as an alternative to the Fair Labor Association's brand certification program. The WRC does not certify brands or factories as being in compliance with the WRC Code or the codes of conduct of its member universities. Instead, the WRC will conduct factory investigations in response to worker and third-party complaints, as well as on a proactive basis. The WRC also will not accredit external monitoring groups or social auditing firms to carry out the investigations. There are more than 90 colleges and universities affiliated with the WRC. In the US, the manufacture of university licensed apparel products is a $2.5 billion business.

More information:

Contact:
Workers Rights Consortium
5 Thomas Circle NW
Fifth Floor, Washington
DC 20005
USA

E-mail: wrc@workersrights.org
Tel: ++1-202-387.48.84
Fax: ++1-202-387-32.92

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