The WRC is a US-based campaigning organisation that deploys staff into clothing factories across the world to assess labour standards and resolve issues locally by working with workers and management.
It was set up in response to demands by US students for increased transparency in their university and college clothing supply chains, and over 180 US universities and colleges affiliate to WRC.
Charlotte Gerada, student chair of NUS Services’ Ethical and Environmental Committee, said "NUS Services has a proud track record of supplier engagement, and the vote at NUS Services Convention means that we will continue to lead on supply chain ethics".
She added: "Affiliation to WRC will provide added supply chain assurances to our students, and allow us to reaffirm our commitment that their students’ union shop is the ethical place to shop".
NUS Services is the first purchasing consortium in Europe to commit to affiliating to the WRC, and it hopes to set an example to other purchasing consortiums, especially those in the education sector.
Work on affiliation will start in the 2011/12 academic year, with full affiliation in 2012/13. The £21k affiliation fee will be paid for by a 1% levy on the consortium’s clothing category.
Download the Board Resolution passed at AGM 2011 here.
For more information on our work with suppliers see www.nus.org.uk/greener