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Five years ago, the University of California adopted a code of conduct that aimed to improve conditions for workers who make merchandise bearing the logos or trademarks of the university and set standards of labor for licensees.

On Wednesday, two student groups worked to educate the campus about their skepticism as to how strictly the code was being enforced.

Members of the UCLA Social Justice Alliance along with the Student Worker Front organized a political theater in an attempt to educate students about allegations that UCLA apparel could be the product of sweatshop labor.

Cindy Holmes, director of UCLA Trademarks and Licensing, said she was confused by the allegations the alliance was making about labor conditions in regards to ASUCLA merchandise production.

The presentation started with a demonstration in Bruin Plaza and ended with the delivery of a proposal to the chancellor’s office asking for reform of labor conditions in UCLA merchandise production. Social justice activists began the demonstration by creating a mock job recruitment fair and pretended to recruit students to work for the university as sweatshop laborers.

“We were basically satirizing the situation to show how awful the conditions that sweatshop laborers work in,” said fourth-year geography student Christina Kaoh, student coordinator for SJA.

The alliance was unable to meet with the chancellor Wednesday but has plans to meet and discuss the issues with him in the future.

But university officials said they were unaware of any alleged violations.

“Nobody has come forward with information that could be investigated on and I feel that UCLA trademarks and licensees are involved in this issue in a proactive way that is making sure that UCLA is adhering to the code of conduct,” Holmes said.

Holmes is currently working on a committee that addresses various issues involving the code of conduct. The committee’s focus is on collecting information about where the products are made, she said. It is currently working with the Fair Labor Association and the Worker Rights Consortium to gather knowledge regarding factory conditions.

“We’ve got a good start at addressing these issues and I’m positive about what we’ve done,” Holmes said.

The proposal presented to the chancellor’s office includes background information as to why the alliance is working to end sweatshop labor, the policies each factory needs to comply with to be in accordance with the code of conduct, and a plan for implementing change over a three-year period of time. It also contains an explanation of key standards regarding how a factory should run, and an appendix of factories that meet with the criteria.

“We kept asking students if they want to work with young children, for little pay and no benefits and security – and it was definitely an interesting way to present the information. It was meant to be satirical and that was effective and it really piqued peoples’ interests,” Kaoh said.

“Even though decisions are made at a UC systemwide level, we think it’s important that the UCLA chancellor takes a stand on the issue,” she said.

Michael Oleon, a member of the SJA and a second-year theater student, said it is important for the university to act morally as an educational institution.

“We want to make sure the UCs keep true to their promise they made by adopting the code of conduct,” he said.

Bob Williams, executive director of Associated Students UCLA, said that ASUCLA is very proactive about these issues, as all of the licensees are required to sign agreements to abide by the standards set forth in the code of conduct.

The SJA has been working with the Worker Rights Consortium to determine whether the code of conduct has been implemented effectively.

“We can’t ensure that BearWear and UCLA service uniforms are being made in sweatshop-free conditions,” Kaoh said.

“It’s mostly the nature of the garment industry that gives us our doubts. Many of the brands make their merchandise in factories that can’t be labeled as sweatshop-free, meaning that the workers are paid a living wage and are provided benefits.”

The alliance’s demands are economically feasible because the university would continue making profit off of merchandise sales, Oleon said.

“With the amount of sales of UC clothing, especially UCLA items, these actions would not be much of a financial burden,” Kaoh said.

The alliance distributed fliers with information regarding how the school’s popular sweatshirts, T-shirts, hats and other logo-bearing merchandise are produced.