Business Human Rights in Practice at UCONN REMARKS

Business & Human Rights in Practice at UCONN REMARKS BY PROF. SHAREEN HERTEL UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT

Why university of Connecticut? Pioneer in interdisciplinary HR research & teaching Strong track record of practice-based research Strong institutional commitment to: ◦ Vendor supply chain management ◦ Environmental sustainability SOURCE: UCONN; SIERRA CLUB; UN

Professionals bring CSR & BHR into the classroom SOURCE: USCIB; UCONN; SAI

Characteristics of UConn’s involvement in BHR 1) Integration of global AND local concerns in research, teaching, and policy Reflected in work of President’s Committee on CSR (PCCSR) from 2005 -present : http: //csr. uconn. edu/ 2) Integration of labor AND environmental concerns in research, teaching & policy Reflected in joint work of PCCSR and Office of Environment Policy https: //envpolicy. uconn. edu/ Also reflected in UConn Vendor Code of Conduct https: //policy. uconn. edu/2013/02/12/vendor-code-of-conduct/ 3) Engagement with staff and practitioners as research and teaching partners

Chronology: Early Years In 2000: students formed chapter of United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) and had a “sit-in” to present a list of demands on CSR to then-President Philip Austin President Phil Austin convened a Task Force on Sweatshop Labor UConn pressed contractors to disclose supply chain for collegiate apparel UConn joined the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC)

Mid-2000 s December 2004: Hartford Courant ran front-page, two-part story on UConn’s contracting practices in Mexico President Austin reconvened a second Task Force on Sweatshop Labor in Spring 2005 Recommendation: add child labor and wage issues to Collegiate Licensing Corp (CLC) code of conduct for UConn licensed apparel Recommendation: create permanent, staffed committee Staff appointed in Fall 2005; permanent Committee created in Spring 2006. UConn joins FLA (2008) As of 2011, UConn has developed CSR language developed for use in purchasing contracts more generally: http: //csr. uconn. edu/

Research, Teaching & Policy linkages 200 undergrads/year are Human Right Majors/Minors + 20 -30 grad student “HR Certificates” (School of Law; School of Social Work; School of Education; College of Lib Arts & Sciences) Suite of classes on BHR-related issues, including: SUPPLY CHAINS STAKEHOLDER DIALOGUE ETHICAL CONSUMPTION SUSTAINABILITY Across multiple fields (e. g. , Political Science; Business; Engineering for Human Rights) Employing multiple pedagogies (e. g. , writing-intensive seminars; simulation-based) Internships and practical training opportunities SOURCE: UCONN LIBRARIES - ARCHIVES & SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

POLICY PRACTICE EXAMPLE: PCCSR � Faculty: involved as PCCSR members (Political Science; Education; Economics; Business) � Staff: involved as PCCSR members (e. g. , Athletics; Ethics & Compliance; Purchasing; Office of Environmental Policy; Student Affairs -- Residential Life, Community Outreach, Dining Services) � Students: rotating student members (2 to 3) � PCCSR as vehicle for information sharing and facilitating stakeholder dialogues SOURCE: UCONN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS & UN

POLICY PRACTICE EXAMPLE: Fair Trade Coffee � In 2001, student protested to have FT coffee available on campus; demand was flat (less than 2% ) for a decade. � With the appointment of a rep of Dining Services to the PCCSR in 2009, Dining Services committed to convert overall volume of coffee available in UConn-Storrs kiosks and dining halls -- to 98% "fair-trade" certified � In February 2010, UConn Storrs Dining Services publicly announced a planned phasein of "fair trade" coffee in all six of the campus cafes it operates as well as in all dining halls on the Storrs campus. � Phase-in completed by March 2010. � Dispute among FT certifying organization erupts in Fall 2011 � UConn shifted to Rainforest Alliance Network (RAN) certification (80%) � See also Pete’s Coffee sourcing, Fair Trade Certified (20%) SOURCE: ROMANO COLLECTION - UCONN ARCHIVES & SPECIAL COLECTIONS

RESEARCH EXAMPLES: Fair trade coffee Lyle Scruggs, Shareen Hertel, Samuel Best, and Christopher Jeffords, “Information, Choice and Political Consumption: Human Rights in the Checkout Lane, ” Human Rights Quarterly 33, 4 (November 2011): 1092 -2011 Shareen Hertel, Lyle Scruggs, and C. Patrick Heidkamp, “Human Rights and Public Opinion: From Attitudes to Action, ” Political Science Quarterly 124, 3 (Fall 2009): 445 -461. Nationally-representative public opinion surveys 2006, 2008, 2009 to produce above articles Use of grad student researchers to conduct in-store surveys on site re: consumer awareness of FT coffee – direct collaboration with Dining Services staff Subsequent dissertation (Timothy Dzurilla, Fair Trade Pathways: Historical Institutionalism, Transnational Welfare Networks, and Fair Trade Impact on Coffee Producers in Nicaragua & East Timor)

RESEARCH EXAMPLES: Stakeholder Dialogue Conference on “Human Rights at the End of the Line: Stakeholder Engagement in Light Manufacturing” (October 2017) Involved over 30 reps from across USA, Europe, Asia and Latin America 2 -day event explored practical dimensions of MSI and Worker-Driven Social Responsibility (WSR) models IRB-approved participant observation Support for analysis of Business & HR Resource Centre (BHRRC) data 2 -years of hand-coding by undergrad research assistants Original machine coding interface (first-ever use of API, developed jointly by Hertel, Majumdar and BHRRC staff) – spawned subsequent coding at larger scale (Nicole Janz, Nottingham) Support for field-based research in Dominican Republic (2017) on community perceptions of BHR mechanisms Sites: 2 towns where textile manufacturing of collegiate apparel takes place Selected from 2, 500 firms in UConn supplier database IRB approved qualitative interview of community members

Tethered Fates: Companies Communities & Rights at Stake (Oxford U-Press 2019) Policy implications New strategies for engaging government as a party responsible for remedy New mechanisms for extending right to participation (beyond workforce) New forms of remedy including collective goods provisioning (Re)newed recognition of interdependence of rights Value of community input for “decision-making under uncertainty” ◦ Diagonostic data (what happened and why? ) ◦ Predictive analysis (what could happen? ) ◦ Approximate solutions, grounded in incremental adjustments

Policy Impact