ANN ARBOR—"Monitoring International Labor Standards: Challenges for the Future" will be the subject of a panel discussion 7-9 p.m. Feb. 11 in Schorling Auditorium at the School of Education on the University of Michigan Central Campus. Auret van Heerden, executive director of the Fair Labor Association (FLA), and Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), will be the panelists. They will address the two organizations’ respective approaches to supporting adequate international labor standards. Each will explain the central focus of his organization, its methods of operation, the effectiveness of its approach and the challenges of monitoring compliance. The FLA and WRC help to enforce U-M’s licensee code of conduct, so van Heerden and Nova will also discuss labor standards in the factories making U-M licensed apparel. Activism by U-M students over the last several years drew attention to this issue at the University. This forum marks the first time representatives of the FLA and WRC have visited the campus to talk about how they help to monitor and enforce fair labor standards for workers who make collegiate licensed apparel. Moderator of the forum will be Lawrence Root, director of U-M’s Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations and chair of the University’s Committee on Labor Standards and Human Rights. The Committee, which includes student representatives, organized the forum.
For more information on the Committee, go to www.ilir.umich.edu/colshr/.