[sas-announce] Minutes from June 19 Students Against Sweatshops meeting

[Josh Robinson]

Dear all,

Sorry these are so late: we were unable to get the email-list set up 
before the G8, but have now finally managed to collate all the addresses 
we got there.

There are about 300 people on this list, so it's moderated and for 
announcements only. To join a higher-volume (in principle at least: 
there's hardly any traffic on it at the moment) discussion and planning 
list, email me or go to 
http://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/sas-discuss to add yourself.

In solidarity,

Josh

Students against sweatshops (SAS) minutes:

Date: 19th June 2005
Time: 14:30
Location: Room 3C, University of London Union Building, Malet Street

Present: Andrew H, Cath F, David B, Jon A, Josh R, Justin B and Mark O
Apologies: Sacha, Laura (both stuck in Oxford), Daniel (middle of 
A-levels)

Agenda:
1.	E-list / Website
2.	Produced Documents
3.	Students' Union Purchasing Motions
4.	G8
5.	Broadsheet Promotional Material
6.	Fundraising Pack -- Haiti
7.	SAS Week of Action

1 E-list / Website

Josh to create an e-list via Aktivix within the following week.

Mark will send a database of No Sweat Students for the e-list,

David to register a domain name with links to NoSweat.org.uk and no 
advertising at the cost of £2 a quarter.

David to be responsible for content management of the website.

Mark to put up a large banner type link will be on the NoSweat.org.uk 
website.

2 Produced Documents

2.1 SAS campus workers draft

Cath to make a few changes proposed by the meeting

Cath: USAS website contains articles about what universities in North 
America had achieved with practical advice and guidance about what could 
be done.

Josh to do research on the facts of the living wage and general workers' 
rights.

Mark: lack of experience within SAS in helping to form unions. Suggested 
that for the next meeting a GMB union worker should come to the next 
meeting who has Union experience and give practical advice to the group.

Josh, David (and Laura if free/willing) to meet with a contact of Mark's 
within the GMB.

Mark: aim of the meeting should be to mobilise union activity within 
canteen workers and other vocations earmarked for being contracted out at 
London Universities.

Mark to arrange meeting.

Josh to send an email to all SAS members to find out what was the state of 
union activity on their own campuses.

David to use website to ask general students also.

2.2 Haiti Document

The document is with Laura who has been held up in Oxford. Justin will 
bring a copy to the next meeting.

3 Students' Union Purchasing Motions

Mark: Tom Dale in Oxford has useful links on his website on organising 
workers Unions at University.

Andrew: had had an Ultra Vires problem when he attempted to pass a motion 
on Union merchandising.

Cath: how the Union spends its money affects students and so the matter is 
not Ultra Vires. Ultra Vires is a law that ensures that a charity 
organisation spends its money on things that do not conflict with the 
principles and beneficiaries of the charity and that management often uses 
Ultra Vires as an excuse to stop policies that they personally disagree 
with.

Cath and Andrew to produce a document that will:
·	Talk about how Unions/Management falsely use Ultra Vires to block 
progressive motions.
·	Define what Ultra Vires actually means and how it affects policy.
·	How to combat these obstructions.

David to publish on website

4 G8

Around 40 No Sweat activists expected to be in Edinburgh.

Will be distributing leaflets and demonstrating in front of GAP and other 
well known sweatshop endorsing establishments.

Suggested that Laura should be the point of reference/contact at the G8 
moblisations.

5 Broadsheet

Decided to produce broadsheet for G8. To include a critique of the aims of 
Make Poverty History with positive suggestions of what else is needed for 
Africa to progress. Also short briefings on Haitian and Bolivian workers' 
rights.

David was arbitrarily self-appointed as editor of the broadsheet.

Justin to send Haitian briefing to David to create a 300 word version for 
the broadsheet.

6 Fundraising Pack: Haiti

Not clear on what meant by this: postpone to next meeting when Laura is 
here and can explain!

7 SAS Week of Action

Mark suggested 11-18 February but noted that he had a habit of picking FE 
half-terms.

Cath: Valentine's day could be incorporated with the week of action.

Resolved to ask Daniel to ask NUS if this date was acceptable and 
non-conflicted.

Mark suggested a joint initiative with No Sweat and SAS to do an action on 
touring a Chinese Union worker across campuses that week.

All to come up with activities to do for the week of action.