UNIVERSITY COMPLICITY
All furniture in the new University of Washington Seattle dormitories, on both West Campus and North Campus, comes from Correctional Industries (CI), the WA State prison labor program. From 2011–2016, UW spent just under $7 million on CI furniture. For the North Campus Expansion alone, UW has spent another $3.1 million.
There are State Laws Requiring UW Purchases from CI
RCW 39.26.250
Gives preference to state agencies who bid on products that use inmate labor.
RCW 39.26.251
Requires state agencies (including UW) to purchase goods from CI unless they prove CI’s products are inadequate, overpriced, or lower quality.
These laws contradict UW’s Supplier Code of Conduct
“The Supplier shall not use coerced or forced labor, nor subject employees to inhumane or abusive treatment.”
UW’s Supplier Code of Conduct (2016)
The UW is required to contract with the lowest responsible bidder, which allows criteria in addition to price to be factored into the decision-making. UW has previously refused to buy furniture from a company in Southeast Asia for violating their code of conduct. They claim that Washington does not consider prisoners as employees, therefore exempting them from the verbiage in the code.
University of Washington’s refusal to divest from CI is oppressive, exploitative, and hypocritical
Community members have repeatedly protested against this issue. The Daily has been documenting protests against prison labor since 2016
