The 17-member city council resolved unanimously to call on universities in the Philadelphia area to reject the Fair Labor Association and join the Workers Rights Consortium, a rival group formed by student activists who believe the FLA is a corporate whitewash for the apparel industry. The resolution is non-binding. But it is the first rejection of the FLA by a government body and was thus hailed as a significant victory by the activists.
Many university administrations appear to agree.
Boston College and Harvard University, for example, have refused to reject the FLA despite student protests. But officials have also begun looking at alternative ways of ensuring that their schools do not contribute to sweatshop conditions in Third World countries.