Student activists, "surprised by Monday's announcement"
that 17 colleges and universities had "affiliated" with the
Fair Labor Association, (FLA) "suggested" yesterday that
"protests may intensify," according to USA TODAY's Mary Beth
Marklein. The students "question" whether the schools will
be "best served" by the FLA, which was established by the
Labor Department to "fight sweatshop abuses," and say that
the organization is "dominated by corporate interests." VA
Tech junior David Ferguson said that the students "plan to
spend the coming weeks 'urging universities to not sign'"
the FLA initiative until their "concerns are resolved" (USA
TODAY, 3/17). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Kelly Greene notes
the role of Duke Univ. students in the protests. But the
"targets" of the student protests say that the activists
"are following a script written by" the Union of
Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees. CLC General
Counsel Bruce Siegal: "The union is pulling the strings.
There's no doubt about that" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/17).