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Students discuss key labor and human rights issues in social responsibility journal

Issues COVID-19 Employment Relationship Fair Compensation Forced Labor Freedom of Association & Collective Bargaining Health Safety & Environment

The Fair Labor Association (FLA) today released the 2023 volume of the FLA Student Committee Journal, Social Responsibility Topics of the 21st Century, which is the culmination of the Student Committee’s work throughout the 2022-2023 academic year.

The journal features articles written by Student Committee members on business, human rights, and social responsibility topics, including:

  • The impact of COVID-19 restrictions and setbacks on labor migrants;
  • The need for federally-mandated paid sick leave in the United States, and;
  • The century-long fight for adequate labor protections covering fashion workers.

Student Committee members are selected from undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at one of FLA’s approximately 140 member colleges and universities across North America. The Student Committee meets regularly to discuss business and human rights issues, host guest speakers, participate in learning and networking opportunities, and plan the journal’s publication.

“Helping to edit the journal was a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the passions of fellow student committee members,” said Mackenzie Mock, an MS/MBA student at the University of Michigan, who served as both an author and peer editor of the 2023 Student Journal. “I’m grateful for the shared learning fostered along the feedback process — it strengthened my writing as well!”

For the 2022–2023 academic year, 19 students from 13 universities participated in the Committee. Nine of the students wrote articles, and three students (including two of the authors) supported the editing process.

FLA looks forward to continuing to facilitate these opportunities for networking and professional development for university students, who are critical to the defense of workers’ rights. The application process for the 2023–2024 FLA Student Committee will open in August 2023.

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