On Nov. 10, 2005, the trustees of the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) implemented a no-sweatshop policy allowing businesses who are "sweatshop-free" to supply uniforms to Catholic schools across the board. However, what should have been a cause for celebration among student activists was instead an appalling surprise for those who have developed a strong sweatshop-free uniform policy over the past three years.

Of the 12 trustees present, seven chose to eliminate a crucial element of the policy, rendering it effectively useless and difficult to implement. The policy will now put companies on an approved sweatshop-free uniform-supplier list without any way of confirming whether they are sweatshop-free or not. As a Catholic high school student within the board, I have become very concerned and uncomfortable knowing that the uniforms my fellow classmates and I purchase may be coming from a factory that enforces sweatshop conditions.

Recently, the Worker's Rights Consortium, a U.S.-based non-profit organization that audits garment industries, recently agreed to work with a union of school boards in Ontario. Nevertheless, as I and many other student demonstrators sat through the trustees' meeting, it became apparent that many of the trustees were not interested in partnering with this organization. In my view, if the board is not willing to work with neutral partners in ensuring the implementation of their own policy, how can we trust the word of these suppliers? There is definitely a great possibility of a corporation taking advantage of this policy and effectively ignoring its main purpose.

For the policy to work, the board does not need to reinvent the wheel. What it does need to do is establish a way of ensuring suppliers are living up to their word, by creating safe and secure working conditions for their employees, both in Canada and abroad. As a student who has been actively involved in social justice movements, I speak on behalf of all students when I say that the determination of activists will not end with this setback.

As a grade 12 student, I must live up to several expectations the TCDSB has set forth in order to graduate. One of those expectations involves being a responsible citizen who gives witness to Catholic social teaching, by promoting peace, justice and the sacredness of human life. How can I and the thousands of high school students in Toronto live up to these expectations, when the very people who were elected to represent us cannot live up to them themselves?

Thankfully, I know where my priorities lie, and until the board decides to practice what they preach, our group will not stay quiet until an effective uniform policy has been passed.

Editor's note: During a Dec. 2 meeting, the Toronto Catholic No Sweat Committee again called on TCDSB trustees to revise their school uniform purchasing policy. They are calling on trustees to meet with the Workers Rights Consortium, and revise the policy to include effective monitoring and enforcement mechanisms.

Ryan Nutter is a student trustee for the Toronto Catholic District School Board. He attends Cardinal Newman High School.

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