UNC labor-practice protest continues

CHAPEL HILL -- A student sit-in outside the chancellor's office at UNC-Chapel Hill enters its sixth day today.

The students are demanding that the university join a program they say would enhance efforts to support fair labor practices in factories producing apparel with the UNC-CH logo.

Twenty-three people remained inside South Building when the doors closed Friday night, said Salma Mirza, a senior history major. Police allowed people to leave but not re-enter the building during the weekend. By Monday morning, four students remained, Mirza said.

About 11 remained in the building when it closed Monday, she said.

The sit-in follows a similar protest at Appalachian State University, where six students were charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing.

The UNC-CH students want the university to join the Designated Suppliers Program. They said that would ensure that clothing bearing the UNC-CH logo would be made in factories where workers earned a living wage.

In a statement, UNC-CH said it belongs to two labor monitoring organizations and had explored joining the Designated Suppliers Program beginning in 2005 but didn't reach consensus.

Campus officials have set ground rules for the protest. Protesters have been told they must respect university property, not disrupt operations during normal business hours, not occupy any offices, and not exceed the fire marshal's posted capacity for the rotunda.

The students have set up a Web site with video of the protest at dsp4unc.wordpress.com.

The university has posted a fact list at www.unc.edu/news/ archives/apr08/ licfacts041508.html.