New York S 3165: Directs state university trustees to promulgate and enforce a sweat-free code of conduct for the licensing and purchase of apparel at colleges of state university

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S03165 Summary:

BILL NOS03165 

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SAME ASNo Same As

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SPONSORBAILEY

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COSPNSR

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MLTSPNSR

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Add §362, Ed L; amd §342, Lab L

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Directs the state university trustees to promulgate and enforce a sweat-free code of conduct for the licensing and purchase of apparel at colleges and universities of the state university; requires provision in contracts with apparel manufacturers providing for the termination thereof if the manufacturer uses a sweatshop; requires that at least one member of the special task force on the apparel industry be a representative of the state university of New York.

Go to top S03165 Actions:

BILL NOS03165 

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01/24/2025REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION

01/07/2026REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION

Go to topS03165 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topS03165 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topS03165 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 3165

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN SENATE

 January 24, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by Sen. BAILEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
 printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education

 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing a sweat-
 free code of conduct for apparel licensed by the colleges and univer-
 sities of the state university; and to amend the labor law, in
 relation to the special task force for the apparel industry

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
 2 the "ethical business conduct in higher education act".
 3 § 2. Legislative intent. The legislature hereby finds that the state
 4 university of New York has not responded to decades old requests that
 5 its campuses disaffiliate their business relationships with sweatshops
 6 in the production and licensing of campus apparel. It is now clear that
 7 voluntary action by each campus is no longer an option and that the time
 8 has come to require a system-wide set of rules and regulations be put in
 9 place by the chancellor and board of trustees of the state university of
 10 New York.
 11 For years, lawmakers, religious and labor groups have criticized state
 12 university campus' affiliations with apparel manufacturers who are
 13 indifferent to the fact that workers making university apparel face
 14 abusive treatment, excessive working hours, dangerous conditions and
 15 wages that are inadequate to meet basic needs.
 16 There continues to be a strong demand that all state university
 17 campuses diligently adopt sweat-free standards in the purchase of
 18 athletic apparel and in the licensing of campus merchandise. Advocates
 19 on behalf of working people deplore the repression and exploitation of
 20 apparel workers in Latin America and elsewhere in the world. The univer-
 21 sities and colleges of the state university of New York should be a
 22 model for ethical business conduct, both for their students and the
 23 broader public. It is past time for the state university system adminis-

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD06792-01-5

 S. 3165 2

 1 tration and all its campuses to affiliate with the sweat-free and worker
 2 rights work of the Worker Rights Consortium and the Designated Supplier
 3 Program and end their business relationships that are de facto support
 4 for sweatshop conditions.
 5 Presently 60 of the 64 state university campuses have failed to take
 6 the example or lead of the universities at Albany and Buffalo, which
 7 have adopted the Designated Supplier Program, and the colleges at New
 8 Paltz and Cortland, all four of which have affiliated with the Worker
 9 Rights Consortium to ensure sweat-free manufacturing.
 10 It is obvious that where there has been strong leadership and commit-
 11 ment to protecting worker rights this issue has been resolved. However,
 12 we cannot wait indefinitely for the other 60 campuses to engage in
 13 ethical business behavior that demonstrates our national respect for
 14 human rights, worker rights and anti-child labor rights.
 15 It is well understood by organized labor, religious