Rivera Leads Anti-Sweatshop Protest & Rally by Social Justice Groups Against State University Colleges

On the eve of SUNY's 60th Anniversary wine and dine activities, worker rights groups and lawmakers will be on UAlbany Campus to demand an end to SUNY's exploitation of workers for campus profit, unveil plan

ALBANY, NY (04/03/2009)(readMedia)-- WHAT: 60 of the 64 State University of New York campuses are satisfied with taking part in human rights violations by using sweatshop labor to produce campus apparel. SUNY schools are beneficiaries of work product tarnished by physical abuse, excessive working hours, deplorable work conditions, and inadequate wages.

Coalition of religious, labor, community, student and political leaders will call for SUNY to put an end to their profit making operations that ignore worker rights. Legislation introduced in both houses of the legislature to force SUNY to adopt sweatshop-free code of conduct will be unveiled.

WHO: Hundreds of University Students, Staff, Faculty Members

Assemblyman Peter M. Rivera, Former Chair, Assembly Puerto Rican/ Hispanic Task Force

Candy Merbler, President, United University Professions Albany Chapter

Raul Huerta, United University Professions, Executive Board

Jordan Wells, Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State

Jackie Hayes, Students for Workers' Rights and UAlbany Fair Trade Alliance

Guillermo Perez, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, Capital District Chapter

Elisa Rios, Eagle Industries in New Bedford, Massachusetts, apparel minimal-wage worker

Pastor Valerie Faust, Rhema Power Ministries, member of Workers' Rights Board

WHERE: University at Albany, SUNY - The entrance to the podium between the Fine Arts and Arts & Sciences buildings, Uptown Campus.

WHEN: Saturday, April 4, 2009, 12 Noon

WHY: The State University of New York, for more than 2 decades, has failed to act on calls to end its relationship with campus apparel manufacturers which continue to use sweatshops in the United States and abroad. Other major public university systems have been effective in banning such business relationships, yet SUNY Central Administration and 60 of its campuses have done nothing to disaffiliate themselves from such practices.

Coalition of social justice groups working with state lawmakers now realize SUNY will not do this voluntarily and will announce efforts to force an end to such unethical business relationships. Rutgers, University of California, and Washington State University are examples of large college systems that have disassociated themselves with exploited labor practices. The University at Albany has adopted a model code of conduct that SUNY as a whole has also failed to follow.