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ACTION GUIDE

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CONTENTS This guide has been produced by People & Planet to equip you with the knowledge and skills you need to run an effective Sweatshop Free campaign on your campus. People & Planet is the largest student activist network in the UK campaigning to end world poverty and protect the environment. Since 2008, students in the People & Planet network have been campaigning against sweatshop labour, taking more and more creative actions as the year’s have gone by. During this time, the Sweatshop Free

campaign has put millions of pounds back into the pockets of workers and improved working conditions in factories across the globe.

You can be part of this campaign and part of the international movement for workers’ rights. By starting or joining a Sweatshop Free campaign, you can stand in solidarity with workers in exploitative conditions from factories to mines, and push your university or college to commit to stamp out sweatshop labour.

WHAT IS THE GUIDE FOR?

3 WHO IS THIS GUIDE FOR?

4 WORKER RIGHTS ABUSES FROM SWEATSHOPS TO MINES

7 SAMSUNG WORKERS FIGHT BACK

9 RAISING AWARENESS OF WORKERS' RIGHTS ABUSES

10 SOLIDARITY WITH ELECTRONICS WORKERS

11 STORY OF SOLIDARITY

12 YOUR COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY

14 ELECTRONICS WATCH

18 CAMPAIGNING FOR WORKERS' RIGHTS

20 SWEATSHOP FREE ORGANISATIONS

22 WHY IS ELECTRONICS WATCH NEEDED?

23 ESCALATING YOUR CAMPAIGN

26 RESOURCES

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Computers made in sweatshops end up in our stores, schools, colleges, universities, communities, workplaces and homes. Workers that made them likely spent excessively long hours in dangerous factories. Some are at risk of developing cancer from toxic chemical exposure, which also pollutes the environment. Many sweatshop workers experience violence and are at risk of modern slavery.

Throughout the Global South, poverty and climate change is driving people from their villages to work in sweatshops. These sweatshops are found in macabre free-trade zones in cities where factory owners are usually exempt from protecting most workers’ rights, tax and safety regulations. Workers, mostly young women, are paid poverty wages, too low to survive on,

while the richest accumulate wealth at the expense of the poorest.

Internationally, across a variety of industries, modern slavery generates estimated profits of (USD)$150 billion annually, directly profiting the wealthiest.

Women face discrimination as well as exploitation. They work double days, earning on average 25% less than men for the same work. At home, they care for their family and manage household chores.

Despite working in repressive conditions, many workers in the Global South have organised collectively for better treatment and conditions. Let’s stand with workers who are struggling for fair pay and conditions!

WORKER RIGHTS ABUSES FROM SWEATSHOPS TO MINES

Workers’ rights aren’t only ignored and abused in the factories that manufacture components or assemble computers. The minerals that are used inside electronics – from mobile phones to laptops – are sourced from large scale mines across the Globe. Many of these mines cause extensive environmental damage, as well as driving labour rights abuses for miners.

Cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been accused of using child labour and being controlled by

militias. Copper and gold mines in Mongolia have seen substantial water usage that could lead to water shortages to nearby communities. Striking platinumum miners in South Africa were shot at by their national Union and by police in 2012.

Many of these minerals end up in the electronic devices we use everyday, and these violations of human and labour rights, as well as environmental protection are commonplace.

Sweatshop Free!People & Planet’s Sweatshop Free campaign is part of a global movement that are coming together to defend, extend and win rights for workers in the electronics industry. The campaign brings together students and workers in a coalition capable of challenging the root causes of unacceptable working conditions.

Steve Jurvetson, Creative Commons Enough Project, Creative Commons

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A COMPLEX SYSTEMElectronics supply chains are complicated webs. Major brands such as Dell, Apple or HP do not directly employ the workers who make their goods. Instead subcontracted companies, often in the Global South, mine the goods, manufacture the components and put together the final products that end up on our desks.

Brands often claim they have little or no responsibility for the working conditions in factories, where their products are made or the mines where the minerals are sourced from. The distance between factories and mines, brands and consumers makes it difficult to find out the exact situation that workers face.

To make changes in the industry, we need to be able to see what’s going on inside of electronics supply chains. Only through transparency can we then put pressure on brands that are sourcing from sweatshop factories and exploitative mines, as well as powerful manufacturing companies like Foxconn or mining corporations like BHP Billiton.

While it would be impossible for individuals to achieve this, our universities and colleges are large enough to effect this kind of change. They have massive budgets for buying ICT equipment and spend millions of pounds every single year on computers and other electronics. They can use their leverage to change the industry.

In October 2015, workers in South Korea began a sit-in at Samsung’s exhibition centre in Seoul after the company walked out of negotiations with workers who became seriously ill after working in dangerous conditions. The group are organised under SHARPS – Supporters for Health and Rights of People in the Semiconductor Industry.

Many of the workers have contracted cancer as a result of their exposure to toxic chemicals in their work. Reports show that up to 76 workers have lost their lives.

The sit-in has lasted almost two years, and workers have pledged to continue their encampment until all victims are compensated and Samsung issues a full apology to the affected workers and their families.

SHARPS have continued their campaigning, including through the South Korean courts and are beginning to win compensation as a result of their struggle.

Samsung are notorious for their failure to adequately compensate victims. In 2016, Al Jazeera reported that the company has actively sought to cover up information that would help workers and their families get the justice they deserve.

SAMSUNG WORKERS FIGHT BACK

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL ABUSES IN MINES• Child labour• Pollution of air, water and soil• Forced evictions of communities

near mines• Control by armed gangs or

militias• Workplace violence and

intimidation• Limited access to Trades’ Unions.

SWEATSHOP ABUSES• Excessively long working hours. • Low pay• Workplace abuse and humiliation. • Working with dangerous

materials in unsafe conditions. • Restrictions on the right to form

or organise Trade Unions• Highly Casualised work• Forced overtime• Exploitation of migrants

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One of the first things you’ll need to do when taking action against worker’s rights abuses in the electronics industry on your campus is to spread the word and raise awareness! Here are just a handful of ideas of how you could get the message out and make sure everyone knows what the issues are.

RAISE AWARENESS OF WORKERS' RIGHTS ABUSES

UNION BUSTING AT SAMSUNGIntimidation of Trade Unionists or outright restrictions on trade union membership are frequently found within the electonics industry. Samsung is one of the brands who have faced most regular and widespread allegations of Union busting. In 2014, only 300 workers in Samsung’s South Korean operation were members of Trade Unions.

Samsung is known for operating a ‘no-union policy’. Allegations include monitoring suspected union organisers, actively attempting to disrupt trade unions from forming and creating an intimidatory environment.

Workers are still attempting to organise. Some are working with the International Trade Union Congress in an effort to overturn the no-union policy. To join the campaign, head to: act.ituc-csi.org/en/samsung

“ I CAN'T TELL YOU WHO I AM, WHERE I LIVE, OR WHAT I LOOK LIKE. IF SAMSUNG FOUND OUT, I COULD LOSE MY JOB. THE FUTURE OF MY FAMILY – THE LIVELIHOOD OF MY WIFE, SON, AND DAUGHTER – WOULD BE AT RISK. BUT HERE'S WHAT I CAN SAY: I'M A SECRET TRADE UNION ORGANIZER.”

ANONYMOUS SAMSUNG WORKER

CORRUPTION AT THE TOP OF SAMSUNGOn August 25 2017, the heir apparent of Samsung in South Korea, Lee Jae-yong was sentenced to five years imprisonment for his part in the South Korean political corruption scandal.

Lee was charged with a number offences, including bribery, embezzlement, perjury, hiding assets overseas and concealing profits from criminal acts.

The wider scandal also led to the impeachment of the South Korean President, which was only possible due to the mobilisation and campaigning of South Korean activists, trade unionists and workers.

FILM SCREENINGSThere are a bunch of documentaries on workers’ rights and sweatshops. Why not screen one to help raise awareness?

SPEAKER EVENTSIs there an academic at your institution that researches global supply chains or workers rights? Invite them to give a talk!

LECTURE SHOUT-OUTSGive a quick 1 minute announcement at the start of lectures. You’ve got an engaged audience waiting to learn!

LEAFLETS AND POSTERSGet your message out by plastering your campus with printed materials.

RUN WORKSHOPSPeople & Planet can support your campaigns by coming to your institution and running workshops about Sweatshop Free or campaign skills.

KNOCK ON DOORSIf you have lots of students living in halls, go out and speak to them. Speaking to people directly is a great way to get them on board.

STALLSSet up a stall in a busy area on your campus to distribute leaflets and talk to students.

SOCIAL MEDIASet up a Facebook and Twitter account and spread the word online.

STUDENT MEDIA Can you get an article published in your student newspaper? Can you get a slot on your campus TV or radio station too?

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SOLIDARITY WITH ELECTRONICS WORKERSPeople & Planet works with workers rights groups in countries throughout the world, from Mexico to India. They tell us the same story about working conditions and labour rights.

Unionising or organising for rights puts people at risk of loosing their job, or being blacklisted from working anywhere else in the industry. People should have the right to organise freely for better conditions. Freedom to form, join and organise in trade unions is a gateway to accessing fair pay and conditions within workplaces.

People & Planet can put you in touch with mine and factory workers across the globe, their unions and civil society organisations supporting their struggles. From this, students in the UK and Ireland can take leadership from those impacted by the industry and coordinate solidarity action.

TAKE ON THE INDUSTRY ON YOUR HIGH STREETTaking on the electronics industry and seeking to tackle the abuses found in factories and mines is no small task. Global electronics brands are huge companies generating billions of pounds in profit, operating in countless countries and employing thousands of people.

One way to put pressure on brands is to take the fight against workers’ rights abuses onto your high street. Brands care about their image, and organising actions outside of their stores is effective, not only in raising public awareness about the issues, but also of pushing brands to take action to eradicate abuses.

When workers in the Global South call for solidarity campaigns and action against the brands that are complicit in abuses, getting creative and taking the struggle to their stores is a powerful way of achieving change.

THE BADIDAS CAMPAIGNIn 2011, 2,700 workers in an Indonesian garments factory were laid off without receiving legally owed redundancy pay. Nike and other partners in the factory immediately paid their share of the money, whilst Adidas refused to pay the £1.2 million they owed. An international campaign was then launched, led by workers from the factory.

Two international days of action were called involving demonstrations at Adidas and Footlocker stores across the UK,

the US and Europe. Thousands of action cards were signed and delivered to Adidas themselves. This happened alongside continual protest and struggle from workers on the ground in Indonesia.

Adidas finally settled and paid the money that they owed in April 2013. The campaign was a total victory, setting an important precedent for international campaigns pushing for companies to take responsibility for factories in their supply chains.

STORY OF SOLIDARITY

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YOUR COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITYSolidarity actions and campaigns are vital for winning the demands of workers, when labour rights violations in supply chains are revealed. People & Planet’s Sweatshop Free campaign is also working for long-term, systemic change, in addition to responding to individual calls from workers.

That’s where your college or university comes in. Every year, each university generally spends between £3 million and £12 million on computers and other hardware. This money goes into the hands of companies with long records of human rights abuses.

This vast amount of spending also means that universities and colleges can have a huge impact on the practices of companies in the industry. When colleges, universities and other public institutions come together, they can start making important requests from market leaders including Apple, HP, Dell, Samsung and others.

By coming together, institutions can begin to demand information on where their products are made, what conditions they are produced in and apply pressure to reform practices within the supply chain.

RESEARCHING YOUR INSTITUTIONWhen you start a campaign, it’s important to get to grips with how your university or college works, who makes decisions and what policies they already have in place. You might want to find out:

• How much does your institution spend annually on electronics?

• What electronics companies does your university or college source from?

• Does your institution have a policy on buying goods sustainably?

• Who is responsible for procurement (processing purchasing)?

• Are students able to feed into procurement decisions?You’ll be able to find out some of this by searching through your institution’s website or by asking staff members. For others, like annual electronics spend and their suppliers will be a lot harder to find.

For that information, you might need to submit a Freedom of Information request. To get help drafting one, e-mail sweatshopfree@peopleandplanet.org

IDENTIFYING YOUR TARGETSWhen you’re researching your university or college, one of the important things to find out is who will be the key players in winning your campaign.

Power mapping is a tool you can use to identify who on your campus is supportive of your campaign aims, who has the power to make decisions and who has influence over the decision makers. Some people will be supportive and yet have little power. Some will have all the power, but won’t support your objectives. Figuring out who these people or groups are is key to putting together a strategy of who to target and when.

The graph below is a model of how you might plot some key people on campus in terms of power and support. Take some time to think about the following people (and others!) on your campus and plot them on your own graph:

• Vice Chancellor

• Students’ Union Officers

• Sustainability Manager

• Procurement Manager

• Student sustainability societies

• Academics

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In 2013, workers’ rights groups from Mexico to India, European NGOs and public purchasers in launched Electronics Watch. The aim was to create an organisation which would create long term improvements for workers in electronics manufacturing across the world, utilising the leverage of large scale public purchasers.

This became the first independent organisation working for better pay conditions within the electronics industry, through worker led monitoring and the power of public purchasing.

Public institutions including universities and colleges can join Electronics Watch to address worker rights abuses

ELECTRONICS WATCHin their supply chains. When joining, they write human and labour rights guarantees into their contracts with suppliers. Electronics Watch conducts monitoring of factories on behalf of its members, reporting back to them about conditions and treatment of workers. They then negotiate with global brands, manufacturing companies and factory owners to address any labour rights violations that have been found.

WHY SHOULD UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES JOIN ELECTRONICS WATCH?• Electronics Watch gives institutions

a comprehensive overview of their supply chain – where the factories they source from are located, and what the conditions are like.

• Institutions have an duty to improve the conditions in which the products they buy are made in. Electronics Watch is built to achieve that.

• Large purchasers of electronics, like universities and colleges have much more power than individuals. By collaborating in Electronics Watch, they have even more. Utilising that power can bring about real change.

• Revelations of workers’ rights abuses in a supply chain will be damaging to a university or college’s reputation. Electronics Watch reports are initially confidential to members, meaning they can address concerns before they hit the headlines.

• Electronics Watch helps institutions in the UK comply with the Modern Slavery Act, which requires institutions to take steps to avoide modern slavery in their supply chains.

• Joining Electronics Watch will give your university points in the People & Planet University League.

Electronics Watch began monitoring electronics supply chains in 2016, across China, the Philippines, Thailand, Mexico and the Czech Republic. The monitoring Electronics Watch conducts puts workers first, to ensure that an honest picture is gained of conditions, rather than a skewed impression from factory management. Electronics Watch’s monitoring is described as being “worker driven”.

Workers are empowered to initiate investigations, through an online anonymous complaints system and through liason with civil society organisations in electronics producing countries. Those civil society organisations then conduct on and off site interviews with workers to build a sense of the conditions that are present within a factory, as well as gathering other evidence through visiting factories.

By placing workers at the centre of the monitoring process, Electronics Watch is not only more empowering for those directly affected by the issues, but is also more effective in ascertaining the truth. Issues like whether or not workers feel they have the ability to join Trade Unions are impossible to understand without speaking directly to workers.

BUILD A TEAM TO CAMPAIGN FOR WORKERS' RIGHTSTaking action for workers’ rights isn’t something you can do alone. In order to get your university or college to join Electronics Watch you’ll need to build a team.

Get together with your friends, recruit the best activists on campus and remember to think outside the box about who to invite: a diversity of experiences and opinions often makes a group stronger. Reach out to feminist, Green, sustainability, Labour anti-racist and anti-arms trade groups on campus.

Set up a meeting, share ideas and plan.your campaigns.

HOW DOES ELECTRONICS WATCH MONITOR FACTORIES?

“ELECTRONICS WATCH IS THE ONLY ELECTRONICS

MONITORING ORGANISATION, WHICH SERIOUSLY INVESTS

IN WORKER DRIVEN MONITORING, WHICH IS THE BEST WAY OF HIGHLIGHTING

ISSUES, AND OBTAINING REPARATION.”

DAVID FOUST, CEREAL, MEXICO

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ELECTRONICS WATCH WINNING CHANGESince factory monitoring began in 2016, Electronics Watch has already taken huge steps to improve working conditions across the world. From the Czech Republic to China and from the Philippines to Thailand, thousands of workers have been interviewed and through Electronics Watch monitoring and negotiation, workers have begun to receive money back in their pockets and improvements in their conditions.

MAPPING SWEATSHOPS IN CHINAElectronics Watch recently undertook a major research project in China to deepen the understanding of the industry in the country. Conducting over 7,000 interviews with workers, civil society organisations working with Electronics Watch have now built a comprehensive picture of the issues with electronics factories in China.

These interviews illuminated extensive labour rights violations, including restrictions on the ability for workers’ to form unions, discrimination against women, healh and safety violations, forced overtime, restrictions on the right to resign, and use of unpaid student interns studying unrelated subjects. The research will inform the work of Electronics Watch in the future and enable them to more effectively identify and address labour rights violations in members’ supply chains within China.

ABUSES IN A CZECH ELECTRONICS FACTORYEastern Europe isn’t commonly associated with the manufacturing and production of electronics, but increasing numbers of firms are moving into countries like Czechia. In 2016, Electronics Watch investigated a factory in Czechia. The investigation found a number of concerns including differential pay and treatment of directly employed and indirectly employed workers, highly precarious contracts, restrictions on trade unions, short notice times for shifts, long working hours and arbitrary fines.

Since the initial investigation, Electronics Watch has being negotiating with the implicated brands and manufacturing companies on behalf of its members which have sourced from the factory. Negotiations are still ongoing, but so far, successes have included moving workers away from 12 hour shifts and onto 8 hour shifts and winning wage improvements for indirectly employed workers.

ELECTRONICS WATCH WINNING CHANGETACKLING UNION BUSTING IN THE PHILIPPINESElectronics Watch received an anonymous complaint from a worker in a factory in the Philippines. Upon responding to that complaint, it was uncovered that 87 workers were laid off including all 63 union members, the day after workers came together to form a union. Many of the workers did not receive severance pay. Workers accused managers of taking direct measures to bust unions in the factory.

Due to Electronics Watch work and legal orders, 22 workers who did not receive severance pay have since been reinstated and re-employed by the factory. Electronics Watch is continuing to work with suppliers to ensure that those workers are reinstated on the same terms and conditions and don’t face reprisals for union organisng.

MIGRANT WORKER EXPLOITATION IN THAILAND. Electronics Watch identified extensive exploitation of migrant workers in Thai factories. Recruitment agencies were found to be witholding identity documents of migrant workers, including passports, as well as charging extortionate fees to workers, who were then required to work excessive hours in order to pay off debts.

After action taken by Electronics Watch, all identity documents were returned. Ongoing work is being done to ensure debts are not arising from excessive or illegitimate fees, seeking direct improvements for the workers in this factory, as well as for the industry more broadly. Fees have already been returned to workers as a result of this.

ELECTRONICS WATCH

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Lobbying and awareness raising are important first steps but very few campaigns are successful of the back of this alone. Most of the time, they will require a movement in public and outside of private meetings to build pressure and demonstrate popular support. Make sure you’re showing the breadth of support for your campaign and make management feel under pressure to give in to your demands!

CAMPAIGNING FOR WORKERS' RIGHTS

START A PETITIONYou’ve built up all that support, now it’s time to prove it! Start a petition where students and staff can sign to give their support to your campaign.

People & Planet have a bespoke petition tool which you can use for your campaigns. You’ll have complete control over the messaging and be able to contact all of your signatories by email at any time. People & Planet staff can also support you with designing and putting together the petition.

Head to act.peopleandplanet.org/sweatshops to get started!

PASS AN SU MOTIONSupport of your SU is really helpful. SU officers have access to management – they’re valuable advocates for campaigns.

DEMONSTRATE!Get students out in droves! March around campus and outside of your Vice Chancellor’s office. You’ll be hard to ignore when you’re chanting at their door!

MASS E-MAILSCreate a template e-mail for students to send your target and ask them to individually send it in. It wont be long before their inbox starts to get really clogged up!

BANNER DROPDrop a banner from a visible spot on campus to show you aren’t going away! Try and get somewhere high or creative to keep it up as long as possible!

Rememember that as you’re taking actions and building your campaign, you’ll want to keep in regular contact with decision makers at your institution. Keep setting up meetings and engaging in conversations, but always remember that the true strength of your campaign lies in the movement outside of the negotiation room!

PHOTO PETITIONPhotograph hundreds of students holding a sign with your campaign demands. Upload them to social media, create collages, spread it around!

SOCIAL MEDIA LOBBYING Tweet @ their Twitter handle, post on their Facebook page. This helps spread messages and pressure an institution at the same time!

INVOLVE STAFFWhen students and staff work together, they’re unstoppable! Contact academics and support staff encouraging them to sign an open letter to the institution.

GET CREATIVE! Sweatshop Free campaigners have in the past built giant computers, dressed up as cardboard robots and organised solidarity sweatshop shifts to put pressure on their institutions to join Electronics Watch or to stand in solidarity with workers.

Try and snap a great photo of a group of students making a visual point about the campaign. These work well on social media and in the press!

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WHICH ORGANISATIONS HAVE GONE SWEATSHOP FREE?Since first launching in 2014, a total of 24 organisations across the world have joined Electronics Watch and made their commitments to stamp out sweatshops in their ICT supply chains. These include universities, colleges, local government institutions, purchasing consortia* and other public sector body. Over half of those members are UK based organisations.

8 universities in England and Wales have joined – Kingston University, Swansea University, London South Bank University, University of Leicester, University of Leeds, Durham University, University of Westminster and Bournemouth University.

In 2016, Tower Hamlets Borough Council became the first local council to join, following in the footsteps of major public buyer Transport for London in 2015. All 44 public colleges and universities in

Scotland have joined Electronics Watch too, through their purchasing consortium – Advanced Purchasing for Universiites and Colleges. Two other purchasing consortia – the London Universities Purchasing Consortium and Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium – have also joined, although not on behalf of their member institutions.

Collectively, this represents a huge amount ICT purchasing, and has played a massive role in the successes Electronics Watch has had in improving workers’ lives described earlier in this guide.

If you want your university or college to be next and to take steps to stamp out sweatshop abuses, set up a Sweatshop Free campaign on your campus! If you already see your university on the list, why not push for your local council to join Electronics Watch too!

SWEATSHOP FREE ORGANISATIONS

“WEWANTTOBECOMETHEWORLD’SFIRSTSOCIALLYRESPONSIBLE UNIVERSITY. THIS MEANS THAT WE NEED TO CONSIDER OUR IMPACT IN OUR INVESTMENTS, PURCHASES AND IN ALL OF OUR ACTIVITIES”

DAVE GORMAN, EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY, ON JOINING ELECTRONICS WATCH

*purchasing consortia are organisations that coordinate large scale buying on behalf of lots of other organisations

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WHY IS ELECTRONICS WATCH NEEDED?

CAN'T COMPANIES JUST DO IT THEMSELVES?A commonly presented alternative to Electronics Watch is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), or Social Auditing.

This usually means that businesses assess themselves on how ethical they are or get a massively profitable company invested in the industry to do an audit (evaluation) of their practices. Billions of pounds has been spent on CSR over the past 20 years with little effect because in reality this process is often little more than window dressing, used to improve the image of a company

without actually improving conditions in the factories.

In some cases, a social audit has declared a factory safe, and only months later there has been a disaster. In Pakistan and Bangladesh, factories declared safe have collapsed only weeks after an audit, killing thousands of people.

We need worker led monitoring. Workers know what is happening, and they have the best solutions for the alternatives. Electronics Watch provides this.

“ELECTRONICS WATCH AND OTHER LABOUR RIGHTS ORGANISATIONS HAVE DOCUMENTED MANY FLAWS IN

SOCIAL AUDITING PRACTICES OF THE ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY; FOR EXAMPLE: AUDITS MAY RECORD THE

CONDITIONS OF THE FACTORY FOR THE DAY OF THE VISIT, BUT THEY ARE UNABLE TO CAPTURE THE DAY-TO-DAY

CHANGES IN THE FACTORY. WORKER-DRIVEN MONITORING CAN HELP ADDRESS THESE CHALLENGES BY PROVIDING

INFORMATION FROM A DAILY-BASIS AND ON-THE-GROUND PERSPECTIVE.”

DAVID FOUST, GUADALAJARA, MEXICO, CEREAL

There will be times even after continued lobbying, demonstrations of support and high profile actions, where you still won’t have achieved your objectives. Some times, you might feel like you are being delayed for no reason or not being listened to.

If this happens, don’t be afraid of taking bolder actions. Often this is the only way to make an institution pay attention to a campaign, take it seriously and begin to listen to it’s demands.

At this stage, you not only want to show that you are willing to take more radical and disruptive actions than before, but also that more people are supporting your campaign. Are there any groups you haven’t built support with on campus yet? Can you find new allies outside of campus? Are there any bigger and more direct actions you can still take?

ESCALATING YOUR CAMPAIGN

OPEN DAY ACTIONSColleges and universities make sure they are looking their best on open days. Especially now that more and more of their income comes directly from tuition fees. Taking action that can damage their reputation here is a powerful tactic!

BIGGER DEMONSTRATIONSMake sure you keep organising marches, pickets and creative actions and mobilise more and more people to attend! Try and be more creative each time to give people a reason to keep coming back!

PHONE BLOCKADESPick a time and day and get a group of students to call your target over and over again asking them to meet your campaign demand. It doesn’t take many people to block phonelines and people can participate from anywhere in the world!

OCCUPY!Perhaps it’s time to occupy a management building or your Vice Chancellor’s office to push Electronics Watch higher on the agenda. If there’s a prominent outdoor space on your campus, you could even set up a vibrant camp!

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CAMPAIGN VICTORY!At every stage, it’s important to keep the door open to negotiation and meetings. The further along the campaign you get, and the more you escalate, the more likely it is that management will be willing to meet with you. Make sure to keep pushing for meetings to discuss your campaign.

VICTORYSo you’ve run your super successful campaign and after the long slog of escalation, lobbying and movement building, you’ve finally won! What next?

SHAREMake sure you share your story. Write blogs, give interviews, share resources, and run workshops to let others learn from your success and what you’ve done well. Big successes are inspirational and your story will encourage others to start campaigns or take theirs up a notch, so it’s really important that you spread the word!

PUBLICISEThere’s lots to do to publicise your win and get the story out to the press. You’ll need to appoint media spokespeople, write press releases and be ready with photos.

GET TRAINED UPYou can do ‘train the trainer’ training with People & Planet and become an organiser in your region, so you can go on to train other groups. By sharing what you’ve learnt, you’ll be able to help grow the movement.

CELEBRATEHave a party to celebrate all the amazing things you’ve achieved! It’s vital to celebrate your successes and share them with the wider movement. Don’t forget to share and celebrate milestones along the way too.

FOLLOW UPFirstly you will need to follow up to make sure the institution does what it said it will do. This means following up on board meetings, checking in on policy, and meeting with the institution’s decision-makers. You may need to increase the campaign pressure if the institution is dragging its feet.

THINKING STRATEGICALLY – YOUR CAMPAIGN TIMELINEAll of the information in this guide should help you along your journey of planning an effective Sweatshop Free campaign. Part of the process of building an successful campaign is planning strategically over time.

You’ll want to think about building a timeline which takes into account things like when students are around on your campus, when exams and coursework deadlines tend to fall, and how you want to build momentum over time.

There are also some key dates in the year that will make sense to mobilise around for your campaign. Here are just a few:

WORLD DAY FOR DECENT WORK 7 OCTOBER An international day organised by the International Trade Union Congress, calling for living wages across the globe. On this day, trade unions and activists around the world are raising awareness of low paid work and agitating for change! It’s a great opportunity to organise a solidarity action and increase the pressure!

PEOPLE & PLANET UNIVERSITY LEAGUE PUBLISHED NOVEMBER Affiliation to Electronics Watch gives universities points in the People & Planet University League. When the league table is published in November, it’s a great moment to hold the spotlight on your university, whilst the media is interested in universities’ performance on sustainability and workers’ rights!

MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 26 FEBRUARY – 1 MARCHEach year, the electronics industry congregates in Barcelona for a massive industry conference. Companies from across the world come together to make deals and sell their products. We’ll be organising days of action here in the UK and Ireland to coincide with the event and make sure that while the media is watching the industry we can show them the extent of their worker rights violations!

ESCALATING YOUR CAMPAIGN

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ELECTRONICS INDUSTRYPEOPLE & PLANET WEBSITE:There are loads of resources and information on the electronics industry at: peopleandplanet.org/sweatshopfree

ELECTRONICS WATCH WEBSITE:The Electronics Watch website is packed full of more info on how they work and the process for joining. You can also find all the publically published reports on working conditions in the electronics industry from China to the Philippines and the sector more broadly. It’s all available at: electronicswatch.org

GOOD ELECTRONICS NETWORKGood Electronics is a network of campaign and research organisations, trade unions and activists seeking to address problems in electronics supply chains. Good Electronics focus on all aspects of the supply chain, from mining to smelting to factories, and are looking at improving both workers rights and environmental sustainability. Their website is: goodelectronics.org

RESOURCES

HELP FOR YOUR CAMPAIGN SOCIAL MEDIAWant to know what other student campaigns are doing? Looking for ideas and inspiration? Got a thirst to stay up to date with all the latest campaign developments? Keep an eye out on the Sweatshop Free campaign’s social media channels: facebook.com/sweatshopfreeuk Twitter: @sweatshopfreeuk

MOVEMENT BUILDING ON CAMPUS GUIDEPeople & Planet and Students for Global Health came together this year to produce a guide for movement building on campus. The guide goes into more detail on all of the campaign and movement building skills touched upon earlier in this guide. The guide should have been sent out to your campaign group in their freshers pack and is available on the People & Planet website.

PEOPLE & PLANET STAFF TEAMThe People & Planet staff team are available to give support to your campaign and run training for your group throughout the year, whether on the issues themselves or on the skills you need to run the campaign.

Get in touch at sweatshopfree@peopleandplanet.org or 01865 403 225

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WHAT CAN YOU DO ON YOUR CAMPUS?1 JOIN YOUR PEOPLE & PLANET GROUP AND LAUNCH A

SWEATSHOP FREE CAMPAIGN• If you don’t already have a group at your university or college,

People & Planet can help you set one up. • You could also talk to existing groups on your campus about

taking on the campaign, whether they are social justice, anti-racist or feminist societies.

• Host a People & Planet workshop on sweatshops and campaigning.

2 RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT SWEATSHOP ABUSES IN THE ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY• Put on film screenings, invite guest speakers, make leaflets and

posters.• Organise solidarity events with workers in the Global South

fighting for their rights. Get creative!

3 START LOBBYING YOUR UNIVERSITY OR COLLEGE TO AFFILIATE TO ELECTRONICS WATCH• Use this action guide to build a movementa gainst sweatshops

on your campus!

Thanks to the Good Electronics Network for supporting this project.

This guide was produced with support from the European Union. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union.