A number of local activist groups, including the Undergraduate-Graduate Alliance, and the Graduate Employees Organization, held a rally outside Huff Hall on Thursday afternoon to protest working conditions at the nearby Flex-N-Gate factory, a producer of automobile parts.

Owned by local billionaire Shahid Khan — a University alumnus, owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars and major donor to the University — the Flex-N-Gate facility, located at 1306 E. University Ave., as well as other locations, has failed to provide proper health and safety conditions for their workers, protestors say.

One of the organizers of Thursday’s rally, Veer Kothari, member of the UGA and senior in Business, said that the rally’s main goal was to spread awareness.

“Awareness is the key,” Kothari said. “If he (Khan) sees people ramping up the pressure … he will take action.”

Beginning in December of 2011, local Flex-N-Gate employees started to file complaints with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, according to members of the GEO. Since then, employees have made accusations of more than 30 violations, members say.

Kothari said one main concern is the carcinogenic compound used to coat bumpers, the chemical hexavalent chromium, which comes from chromium. He said Flex-N-Gate workers have objected to the lack of training and protective equipment provided to them as they come into contact with these harmful chemicals on a daily basis.

The United Auto Workers has already unionized other Flex-N-Gate plants and has been trying to organize a union at the local factory for almost a year. In an effort to facilitate unionization, the UAW called out to the local community Thursday for support.

“We found that the only way for our organization to really have a voice is through collective bargaining,” said Peter Campbell, speaker at Thursday’s rally and GEO member. He also stressed the importance of various groups on campus “showing solidarity to each other.”

Part of the difficulty stems from the fact that Khan’s “philanthropy and rewards hide the faults of Flex-N-Gate,” said Josh Schwenk, member of the UGA and senior in LAS.

In addition to donations made to the Champaign Public Library and Grainger Library, Khan has most recently donated $10 million to build Huff Hall’s Khan Annex to house The Center on Health, Aging, and Disability.

“The tragedy is that he donates $10 million to a new health annex without providing for the health of his own workers,” Kothari said.

The UAW and local community organizations place primary focus on securing a safe work environment. They also advocate for the strengthening of relationships between community organizations and those in need.

“The workers have done an amazing job and have been really courageous,” Campbell said. He said it is important that the group helps to “stop intimidation of workers who speak on behalf of the union.”

_Editor’s note: In an earlier version of this article, GEO member Peter Campbell was referred to as the communications officer. Campbell does not hold an officer position in the organization. The headline also suggested the GEO had hosted the rally, when in fact they did not. The Daily Illini regrets these errors._