Tallahassee, FL – 25 students at Florida State University (FSU) picked up their picket signs to protest a pro-sweatshop economist who spoke on campus here, Feb. 7. The FSU Economics Department brought Ben Powell, a right-wing libertarian economist, to speak in favor of sweatshops and exploitative working conditions.

February 20, 3:30 a.m. – Under a banner that read, “The Whole World is Watching,” fifty-four students, workers and concerned community members slept in the office of University of Wisconsin Chancellor, David Ward. They occupied the chief administrator's office to protest university links to sweatshop labor. The peaceful scene was shattered by the approach of over 60 police dressed in riot gear, with billy clubs at their side and tear gas rifles ready.

Iowa City, IA – March 27, students marched on the house of the University of Iowa's President to protest the use of sweatshop labor used to make clothing with the U of I logo. They demanded the University drop out of corporate-backed Fair Labor Association (FLA), and join the pro-labor Worker's Rights Consortium.

Madison, WI – “Businesses that rely on sweatshop labor are not welcome in our community,” said Bob Hemauer, UW-Madison student and member of the Student Labor Action Coalition (SLAC). “And The Gap is one of the worst!” Hemauer shared his views during a May 5 protest at the opening of The Gap's newest store on downtown Madison's State Street.

Madison, WI – Students scored a major victory in February, when a five-day sit-in at the administration building forced UW Chancellor David Ward to meet demands for the University to take a stronger position against sweatshop labor. At issue is the UW role in negotiating a Code of Conduct with 150 other universities and the Collegiate Licensing Company that seeks to ensure that college apparel is not made under sweatshop conditions.

Madison, WI – On December 10th, more than 40 students, union members, and church activists held a candlelight vigil and leafleted a local Wal-Mart. This action was part of a national day of action against Wal-Mart called by the National Labor Committee. Protesters demanded Wal-Mart release the list of factories where its apparel is manufactured.