The Worker Rights Consortium is an organization devoted to monitoring worker conditions in factories around the world that manufacture products intended for university licensure, such as apparel. The university is joining the consortium on a trial basis to further evaluate the organization’s progress toward effective monitoring of factory conditions. The work of the UC Advisory Group on Monitoring and Enforcement Issues will continue its work under UC Berkeley Vice Chancellor Horace Mitchell.

The university has taken this step in order to make clear its commitment to ensuring that the workers who produce the goods sold with University of California identification are treated fairly and humanely and work under safe and decent working conditions.

Along with Harvard University, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Michigan, and Ohio State University, the University of California will continue to participate in the Independent University Initiative. This Harvard-initiated study brings together a diverse group of experts to visit factories in seven countries to gather accurate, first-hand information on working conditions. Results of the Independent University Initiative study are expected this summer.

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