Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 67.42
Liaison Mary-Lee Townsend
Submission Date Oct. 6, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Western University
OP-17: Guidelines for Business Partners

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Stefanie De Adder
Sustainability Coordinator
Facilities Management
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How many of the institution’s business partners are covered by policies, guidelines and/or agreements that require adherence to minimum environmental standards?:
All

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How many of the institution’s business partners are covered by policies, guidelines and/or agreements that require adherence to minimum standards governing employee wages, benefits, working conditions and rights?:
All

None
A copy of the policies, guidelines, and/or agreements with the institution's business partners (or a representative sample):
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The policies, guidelines, and/or agreements with the institution's business partners (or a representative sample):
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A brief description of programs and strategies institution has implemented to ensure that the guidelines are followed, including a brief description of instances when the guidelines have changed purchasing behavior, if applicable:
The Hospitality Services Purchasing Committee reviews current contracts and buying practices, as well as future contracts and purchasing requirements for all divisions of Hospitality Services. Hospitality Services is dedicated to reducing Western’s environmental footprint and partners who share this commitment to environmental improvements and increased sustainability are given significant weight in the RFP process. http://www.has.uwo.ca/hospitality/purchasing/purchasing_committee.cfm The Code of Conduct for Trademark Licensees doing business with the BookStore at Western states that “University licensees and their contractors must comply, at a minimum, with all applicable laws of the country in which products are manufactured. Where this Code and the applicable laws of the country of manufacture conflict or differ, the higher standard shall prevail. Such compliance shall include compliance with all environmental laws”. http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/mapp/section1/bookstore.pdf An instance when the BookStore at Western decided to change suppliers due to Vendor Code of Conduct was regarding the supplier “Russell Athletic”. They are a popular supplier of licensed clothing and was a supplier to the BookStore at Western. They had a serious issue of unethical labour practices regarding a factory in Honduras, which received much attention in the media. As a result, the BookStore stopped purchasing from this supplier and monitored the company’s response to the accusations before deciding to purchase again. Russell spent a significant part of the following year outlining their intent to fix the situation and move forward. The BookStore used other suppliers during that period and has never purchased from Russell since.

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The website URL where information about the institution’s guidelines for its business partners is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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