Buying clothes can require some seriously intense soul searching. Shoppers must ask themselves morally defining questions like "Do these jeans make my butt look spectacular or just okay?" and "Can I wear this T-shirt even though it says 'Cancun' across my chest and I've never been to Mexico?"
With all these important stylistic queries running through our heads, it's no surprise that we often skirt around much darker issues. According to Alex Dagg, the Canadian co-director of the textile union UNITE HERE, we should be worried about a lot more than the fit of our jeans.
"We need to ask questions about how a company is making money and if it is making profits off breaking laws and trampling on workers' rights," Dagg said.
UNITE HERE and numerous student groups in the U.S. and Canada are campaigning for a back-to-school student boycott of American Eagle Outfitters (AEO). The boycotters allege that workers at a Canadian warehouse contracted to AEO were denied rights and discouraged from unionizing.
"Boycotting is a democratic way to express dissent and expose these companies," Dagg said. "We appreciate student support because it's integral to winning this battle."
Last April, the majority of workers in a National Logistics Services (NLS) warehouse expressed their desire to join UNITE HERE. The NLS warehouse was contracted to ship AEO clothing in Canada.
According to UNITE HERE's American Eagle boycott website, americanvulture.org, workers sought to unionize because of withheld raises, a lack of fair process to move into permanent employment, daily disrespect from management and unfair policy changes, such as increased hours before overtime is paid.
The same day that workers applied for union certification, NLS began an intense anti-union campaign that "intimidated and harassed" employees. NLS required workers to attend daily two hour anti-union meetings, hung large "Vote No" signs around the warehouse and mailed anti-union DVDs to workers' homes.
"They made a lot of people feel that they wouldn't have jobs if they voted to unionize," said Nell Geiser, a campaigner with UNITE HERE. "People were scared and still are scared."
When it came time for the final vote on unionization, the majority of workers at NLS had reversed their opinion. The effort to join UNITE HERE failed.
According to Geiser, much of NLS's anti-union campaign was illegal under Canadian law and UNITE HERE is currently filing charges with the Labour Board.
Boycott American Eagle? Well, aside from the fact that NLS "hasn't been willing to engage the issue," AEO is NLS's largest client, and its Code of Conduct requires contractors to "respect the rights of employees to associate freely, join organizations of their choice and bargain collectively without unlawful interference." AEO, however, hasn't done anything about NLS's anti-union campaign.
"We want American Eagle to do the right thing, which is to apply and enforce the Code of Conduct which one of their suppliers has violated," Dagg said. "Companies that break the law need to be held accountable and need to be exposed."
With the back-to-school boycott, UNITE HERE hopes to spur American Eagle into action by recruiting students.
"American Eagle's target demographic is young people, so that's the major point of influence," Geiser said. "The reason I think students have role to play is that if [young people] send a message to American Eagle then they have to listen."
So far, AEO's response has been limited. But members of UNITE HERE are staying optimistic. The boycott is growing, and at AEO's last conference call, an investment analyst brought up the issue. "Whether there has been an impact on their sales or not, there has been an impact on their image," Geiser said.
UNITE HERE hopes to escalate the boycott during its Week of Action, which will last from Sept. 10 through Sept. 16. According to Geiser, students on many campuses across the United States and Canada plan to demonstrate against AEO during next week. Until then, UNITE HERE plans to keep spreading the word and boycotting American Eagle.
