[Peace] Sign a petition for a Vendor Code of Conduct!

[Mark Mallon]

Hi All, please see below for how you can help get a Vendor Code of 
Conduct signed at U of I. It would provide standards that companies must 
abide by if they are to do business with the University, such as paying 
a living wage and guaranteeing the right to unionize. President White's 
own committee wrote this document ONE YEAR AGO and he has yet to sign 
it! So please sign the online petition and write letters to the 
administration (their emails are listed below). Chime Asonye plans on 
speaking about this at the Board of Trustees meeting this Wednesday, so 
let's try to get a lot of petition signatures and emails sent before 
then. *Please forward this widely!* Thanks,

Mark

*
*

*Support the implementation of a University
*

*/VENDOR CODE OF CONDUCT/
*

*Please sign the petition at the weblink below and circulate this appeal:*
<http://www.petitiononline.com/vcc/petition.html>

http://www.petitiononline.com/vcc/petition.html

/Mandate that the University of Illinois immediately implement its own 
*self-created* document that requires the school to engage in ethical 
investments and procurements, support human rights, and create just 
worker conditions
/

*_BACKGROUND_*

The University of Illinois has been delaying implementing the /Vendor 
Code of Conduct (VCC)./

On June 18, 2007, a University wide group was created called the VCC 
committee with two main goals. One (1) strengthen institutional social 
responsibility by reviewing procurement policies concerning collegiate 
licensing, purchasing, and business dealings. Two (2) create a governing 
policy document and recommendations to ensure that supplier 
relationships align with ethical business practices. In essence the 
mission of the VCC committee was to create a manuscript that prevented 
the University from engaging in actions such as; investing in places of 
ongoing genocide like Darfur, working with companies that employed 
discriminatory practices, and employing companies that harmed the 
environment. The committee sent the University of Illinois President its 
proposed Vendor Code of Conduct (attached) on March 12, 2008. 
Additionally, it recommended that a follow-up committee be created to 
work on compliance and implementation of the Code. It is now almost a 
year and the VCC is still sitting on the University of Illinois 
President's desk, an empty manuscript - with no teeth - that the 
University has not formally accepted. Recently, President White asked 
the University Chief Financial Officer Waltor Knorr to continue to 
"investigate the issue." A year of delay is enough, its time to enforce 
a University of Illinois Vendor Code of Conduct!

*/Email Illinois Administrators (sample email below). Demand 
implementation of the VCC and an ethical University:/*

/University Board of Trustees: uibot at uillinois.edu 
<mailto:uibot at uillinois.edu>
University President - Joe White: bjwhite at uillinois.edu 
<mailto:bjwhite at uillinois.edu>
University Chief Financial Officer - Walter Knorr: wknorr at uillinois.edu 
<mailto:wknorr at uillinois.edu>
UIUC Chancellor - Richard Herman: rhh at uiuc.edu <mailto:rhh at uiuc.edu>
UIUC Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs - Renee Romano: 
romano3 at uiuc.edu <mailto:romano3 at uiuc.edu>/

-----------------------------------
/Sample/

Dear President White and Illinois Administrators:

I have recently learned of the University of Illinois' continued delay 
in implementing its Vendor Code of Conduct. This is unacceptable for a 
land grant institution that prides itself in openness, transparency, and 
upholding the highest institutional standards.The VCC represents an 
important first step to ensuring socially responsible relations with 
businesses and institutions we interact with. As a member of the campus 
community, I encourage you to immediately change course, adopt the VCC, 
and create a committee to enforce it's mandates. 

Sincerely,
(your name)
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*Please sign the petition at the weblink below and circulate this appeal:*

http://www.petitiononline.com/vcc/petition.html