Category Archive

A blog on the University of Montana anti-sweatshop sit-in. The most recent entry, from Friday, is a recap of the sit-in and the issues behind it.

We reported yesterday on an anti-sweatshop sit-in at the University of Montana. Now comes word of a similar sit-in on Tuesday at Penn State that ended with 31 arrests, another at Appalachian State University last week, and a fourth underway yesterday at the University of North Carolina. All of the protests are directed at convincing the universities to adopt the Designated Supplier Program for university licensed apparel.

Update: The UNC sit-in continued overnight, and an article in the campus’s Daily Tar Heel quotes university Chancellor James Moeser as saying the protesters “are probably not going to be arrested.” The protest, he said, is “part of our tradition of free speech.” 

Further Update: The University of Montana sit-in was reportedly the first on that campus since the Vietnam War. In related news, Washington State University averted protests this week by agreeing to sign on to the Designated Suppliers Program.

Yet Another Update: A detailed rundown of the Appalachian State sit-in can be found here. That blog, wataugawatch, is continuing to follow the story in the aftermath of the arrests.

Nine student protesters at the University of Montana were handcuffed and arrested Wednesday evening, ending a sit-in in the university president’s office that had begun at noon that day. According to the Missoulian newspaper:

The nine people arrested are members of Students for Social and Economic Justice, a group that wants the university to adopt the “Designated Suppliers Program” promoted by the Workers Rights Consortium, a nonprofit labor rights group that monitors and investigates working conditions around the world. The DSP identifies manufacturing companies and factories that provide good working conditions.

The protesters were charged with misdemeanor counts of criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct and released.