Two student groups at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee staged an on-campus demonstration Wednesday in support of the Designated Supplier Program, a proposal demanding fair treatment for sweatshop workers manufacturing university apparel.

The Milwaukee Students for a Democratic Society and the Milwaukee Graduate Assistant Association initiated the demonstration in protest against UW-Milwaukee’s refusal to adopt DSP policies.

Beth Robinson, secretary of MGAA and an SDS member, said the purpose of the demonstration was to raise awareness concerning worker conditions and the DSP initiative.

“We felt like it was time to get the student body more engaged with the issue,” Robinson said.

According to Rod Palmquist, international campaigns coordinator for the United Students Against Sweatshops Organization, DSP intends to protect the rights of workers who sew university logo apparel, mandating universities source their apparel exclusively from stores that meet standards of fair treatment and respect for their employees.

“The root problem of sweatshops is a downward price compression that pits factories against each other to see who can produce the most product at the lowest cost, with no respect for human rights,” Palmquist said.

Palmquist added simply monitoring the factories that produce university apparel is not enough.

“The DSP is to address the root of the problem and protect workers’ rights,” he said.

Eric Hemming, UW-Milwaukee Bookstore director, said the goals of MGAA and SDS student groups are “excellently” thought out and supported by the university, but UW-Milwaukee made the decision to not adopt the program because DSP policy “raises issues.”

According to Hemming, the DSP limits outsourcing to a small number of vendors in an effort to monitor the flow of trade throughout the entire UW System. But in doing so, the DSP has the potential to commit an antitrust violation in restricting legitimate trade.

“[DSP policy] takes trade away from people and vendors who are potentially doing nothing wrong,” Hemming said. “We all think that this is a very thoughtful idea, but unfortunately in the current legal environment and in the way the program is currently constructed, it is not possible.”

According to Palmquist, the DSP is currently awaiting an antitrust review letter from the Department of Justice, which could determine if it violates the law. If the DSP receives a positive review, it will be nearly impossible for the program to be challenged legally in the future.

So far 45 schools have issued DSP adoption letters.

Dawn Crim, specialty assistant to the General Educational Administration at UW-Madison, said in an e-mail to The Badger Herald that UW was one of the first institutions to sign the DSP and has been one of the leaders within the group since.

Palmquist said it is important for schools to sign the issue to gain strength in numbers.

“One school alone cannot fix the system, but as a whole their leverage is much more strong, and they can really push through the program and implement its models and practices,” he said, referring to UW-Madison.

Robinson said it is important for universities to be involved in the issue to stop the unfair treatment of sweatshop workers.

“The protest today was successful because it got people talking and thinking about the issue, so I hope that a lot of students now see that they can really have an impact and are interested in getting involved,” Robinson added.