Support Arrested Students at Stanford!

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/stanfordarrest?rk=vpL0g761irZHE

Yesterday, 11 students at Stanford were arrested for peacefully demonstrating inside of their president's office. Instead of listening to their students, and taking steps to ensure that the rights of workers producing for their university were respected, the administration responded by silencing students and having them removed from the building. Please call and email President Hennessy to let Stanford know that silencing students and condoning sweatshop exploitation is unacceptable.

Phone Script: President Hennessy [phone]

Phone Script: Hi, my name is ______ and I am a __________ from _________. I am outraged to hear that, instead of engaging with students taking a principled stand on such an important issue, you chose to have them arrested. Stanford needs to adopt the DSP, affiliate with the WRC, and drop all charges against these students now! Thank you.




Click here for simple E action: http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/stanfordarrest?rk=vpL0g761irZHE


Send a letter to the following decision maker(s):
President John Hennessy
Stanford President John Hennessy

Below is the sample letter:

Subject: Drop All Charges and Adopt the DSP!

Dear ,

I am extremely disappointed to hear that, instead of entering into a dialogue with students engaged in a peaceful civil disobedience, your university has attempted to silence them. Stanford University, as one of the leading institutions of higher education in the world, has an obligation to set an example for the rest of the university community to follow. By choosing to arrest students for taking a principled stand on an issue that, to be quite honest, the university ought to have resolved long ago, Stanford is sending the message that they will stop at nothing, even if it means resorting to police intimidation, to silence the voices of its students.

I would strongly urge Stanford University, for its own sake, to ensure that all charges are dropped, and that there is no further action taken against any of the students in question. The community at large takes these actions to be a direct assault on our most basic right to free speech, and will not stand idly by while the university punishes students for doing what is right.

In addition, I would urge your university to take its own students seriously. Their demands that Stanford support workers' rights and sign on to the Designated Suppliers Program, as well as affiliate with the Worker Rights Consortium, have a wide range of support throughout the entire university community. Your university has an obligation not just to these students but, more importantly, to the workers producing your university apparel, to support those who are struggling to better their own working conditions. Your students have presented you with an opportunity to be a leader in the struggle for workers' rights, and I would urge you to take it.

Sincerely,

Your name.

What's At Stake:
Despite supposed commitments by universities and brands, university apparel is still made in sweatshops. This will continue to be the case until brands are forced to make fundamental changes in the way they do business. Until brands truly commit to sourcing from factories in which the rights of workers are respected, a commitment that includes paying a slightly higher price for their goods, university clothes will continue to be made in sweatshops. It is for this reason that students have demanded, and on 34 campuses won, the adoption of the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP). The DSP will require the brands producing university apparel to source from factories in which workers have the freedom to form a union and earn enough to support a family. In addition, it will require these brands to pay enough for their goods to make this possible. If you would like to find out more about the DSP, as well as how to get more involved, then please go to www.studentsagainstsweatshops.org or send an email to [e-mail]

Campaign Expiration Date:
June 22, 2007

[Lurking Dem]

1. In 1967 there was a sit in

in the President's office and they let it go on for 7 days until they reached a negotiated settlement.

How times have changed.

[lolly]

2. Same thing happened at USC

The admin called the protesters' parents, told them their kids would be thrown out of school and they would get no tuition refund if they didn't disband.

These schools don't want the future JFKs and Obamas and Martin Luther Kings. They just want the next Kenneth Lays.

(on edit--to avoid confusion: the USC incident was this Spring, not in 1967).

[intheflow]

3. A shame this was posted the same day Olbermann ripped

Congress a new arse. Kicking here in solidarity for students with consciences and exploited workers everywhere!
:kick:

[intheflow]

4. kick