UNC Activist Fights for Worker Rights

But the biology major from Berea, Ky., is not exactly going to spend a long weekend on the beaches of Cancun.

Parker headed down to visit the Nike-contracted Kukdong factory in Puebla as part of a delegation of 10 students from across the nation. She will meet with factory workers, union organizers and representatives of Nike to discuss improvements in worker conditions and representation.

A member of the campus organization Students for Economic Justice, Parker was chosen to represent UNC at the factory by United Students Against Sweatshops, an international organization that works with campus groups to stop sweatshop labor and improve worker conditions.

Although the trip is part of a nationwide student effort, Parker and SEJ are taking a special interest in its success.

It was the action of UNC students against Nike's labor practices that enticed Parker to become an active member of SEJ as a sophomore. That action, which included a four-day sit-in in the lobby of South Building in 1999, led the University to incorporate a full-disclosure clause into UNC's labor code.

The victory was evidence of the power students have to influence big business, Parker said.

"It was the importance of the issue and the ability of students to effect change," she said.

Parker said the work she and SEJ members have done since has convinced her that students really do have a lot of power to improve conditions for overseas factory workers.

Since its 1998 campaign, SEJ has remained very active, Parker said.

So when word got out in January the Kukdong factory was allegedly committing multiple labor-code violations, Parker and SEJ members were quick to respond. They convinced Chancellor James Moeser to write a letter to Nike saying that UNC supported workers' rights.

But SEJ members quickly realized the letter was not enough. "Nike didn't take (the letter) seriously," Parker said.

The Kukdong factory problems needed to be handled immediately, she said.

In the factory, located about two hours outside of Mexico City, almost every possible labor-code violation was being committed, Parker said.

The Workers Rights Consortium, an independent labor monitoring group, released a preliminary report saying the factory used child labor, fed workers rancid meat, verbally abused its workers and beat them on their heads with hammers and screwdrivers.

Nike did not deny any of the allegations, Parker said.

Although Nike said they are working to fix the situation, the workers rights violations are a violation of Nike's contract with UNC, she said.

Parker and SEJ members are making sure Nike makes reparations and ensures the violations do not continue to occur. "Our concern is that there is a different time scale between what Nike is working on, what UNC is working on and what the workers are working on," she said.

Parker said she was concerned about Nike putting off taking action to improve worker conditions and to rehire workers fired in a January strike.

"That stalling tactic is something that Nike can afford to do, but workers who are the sole income earner in a family cannot afford (it)," she said.

The trip to the Kukdong factory will be an attempt to organize the workers in Mexico and help them build a foundation to represent themselves.

Parker said she hopes the efforts will serve as a model for workers in other factories.

SEJ member John Johnson said the goal of SEJ is not to come in and try to fix things for the workers, but to help the workers organize and fix things themselves. "It's the whole concept of solidarity," he said. "You fight your struggle, but we'll be there to back you up."

Parker said it is a mission all students should care about. "As students at this University, we are consumers, and as consumers we have decisions to make, and we can affect the decisions the university makes."

Parker said she has high hopes that the success of the delegation at the factory will strengthen SEJ's mission.

"I see the future of the SEJ as having a lot to do with the outcome of this Kukdong struggle."

The Features Editor can be reached at features@unc.edu.