A UAB student organization says months of outreach to administrators about affiliating with an independent labor monitoring group have been met with delays, redirection and limited access to administrators.
Students for International Labor Solidarity (SILS), a registered student organization, has been advocating since fall 2024 for UAB to affiliate with the Worker Rights Consortium, an independent labor rights monitoring organization that investigates working conditions in factories producing collegiate apparel.
The group says its central concern is transparency.
Meg Waldie, a senior majoring in political science and anthropology and president of SILS, said, “We’re stakeholders in this university. When we raise concerns about ethics and human rights in our supply chain, that should be taken seriously.”
The Worker Rights Consortium, known as the WRC, partners with more than 150 universities nationwide. According to the organization, it conducts independent investigations into factories that manufacture collegiate merchandise, helps recover unpaid wages and requires licensees to disclose factory locations.
SILS members argue that affiliation would provide UAB students access to factory disclosure databases and independent investigative reports, tools they say are not currently available to them.
In a letter addressed to UAB President Ray Watts, the group wrote that joining the WRC would ensure “fairness, safety and respect for human rights” in the university’s branded merchandise supply chain.
Jose Sanchez, a senior economics major and communications director for SILS, said that they have delivered multiple letters to administrative offices and requested meetings with university leadership over the past year. While they have met with representatives in brand licensing and marketing, they say they have not been able to secure direct communication with the president’s office regarding the decision.
“We’ve been told that it’s not the president’s role to make this decision, but when we ask who is responsible, we’re redirected from office to office.”
The group said it met with Barbara Perry, UAB’s brand and licensing director, to discuss the WRC. According to SILS members, Perry said UAB’s existing affiliations, including the Collegiate Licensing Company and the Fair Labor Association, provide sufficient oversight.
Julie Gonzalez, a junior anthropology major and vice president of SILS, disputes that claim.
“The Collegiate Licensing Company manages licensing, but it doesn’t conduct independent labor investigations. The Fair Labor Association includes brand representatives on its board. That raises concerns about neutrality,” said Gonzalez.
SILS last meeting with Perry occurred in early December 2025. They also said they were recently advised to redirect correspondence to other departments, including risk management, rather than the president’s office.
“It feels like the goalpost keeps moving. We provide information, we follow the process we’re told to follow, and then we’re told it’s not enough or that we need to speak to someone else,” said Waldie.
The group estimates the annual cost of WRC affiliation begins at approximately $1,500 and argues that the financial burden would be minimal compared to the university’s overall licensing revenue.
SILS has launched a petition in support of affiliation and says it has collected signatures from students and faculty members. The petition can be found here: Petition to UAB President Ray L Watts: Affiliate with the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC) to Uphold Ethical Labor Standards in Collegiate Apparel
Despite what they describe as administrative resistance, SILS members say they plan to continue pursuing formal channels.
“Our goal isn’t to protest for the sake of protesting,” Gonzalez said. “We want transparency. We want to know that the people making our Blazer merchandise are working in fair and ethical conditions. That’s something the university should stand behind.”
UAB’s brand and licensing director states that there are no new updates at this time and that she will be in touch with SILS.
