Justice Dept. Says Colleges’ Anti-Sweatshop Program Doesn’t Violate Law

The U.S. Department of Justice has signed off on a key tool in an effort by colleges to ensure that their licensed apparel and other merchandise are not manufactured in overseas sweatshops. The effort, known as the designated-supplier program, was introduced by the Worker Rights Consortium some five years ago. Under the program, participating colleges require that products bearing their logos be made at factories that pay a living wage, allow unions, and otherwise offer fair working conditions.

A number of colleges and universities have agreed to participate in the program, but there was always a concern that it would violate federal antitrust law, by creating a consortium that favored some factories or licensees over others.

Not so, said the Justice Department today. According to a news release, the department concluded that the program was unlikely to have much effect on competition for sales of the products. It also said that the factories at issue represented such a small part of the labor market that the program was unlikely to have an anticompetitive effect on them. And since agreeing to the program is optional, the department said, there was unlikely to be anticompetitive pressure on the colleges or their licensees.