TAMPA – For the first time ever, a factory with an anti-sweatshop approach reaches out to colleges all over the nation.
The Barnes and Noble College Bookstore has partnered with Knights Apparel, the largest supplier of university/college logo apparel in the U.S., to sell the Alta Gracia clothing line at the University of Tampa.
Alta Gracia, a division of Knights Apparel based out of the Dominican Republic, is the first international clothing factory to support worker unions.
The concept to build Alta Gracia was developed in the spring and was launched this fall. Knights Apparel, based out of South Carolina, was able to market its competitive rates to college bookstores all over the nation.
Over the course of a few months, the Alta Gracia has become available on over 200 college campuses.
The factory, which has received acknowledgement from the United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) organization, is paying workers three times their living wage.
This is the highest percentage paid worldwide. Employees earn $2.83 per hour, much higher than the national average of $.80 per hour.
In addition to higher pay, workers received benefits such as holiday and vacation pay.
The Alta Gracia factory stipulates that it also allocates no more than 44 hours weekly per employee.
Theresa Haas, director of communications for the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), said the organization conducts inspections at the Alta Gracia factory on a weekly basis.
The inspections assure the factory is up to union standards and is not overworking employees.
The inspections conducted by the WRC are more frequent than those made by other companies, which, in some cases, conduct only one inspection per year.
“The real passion and mission surrounding this started back in 2005 as a result of some dealings with Scott Nova and the WRC,” said Joe Bozich, CEO of Knights Apparel.
One of the workers recently interviewed by the New York Times, Santa Castillo, said she felt “blessed” to be earning enough money to begin building a new home.
“Alta Gracia is the only apparel that carries a tag from the Worker Rights Consortium,” said Jim Wilkerson, licensing director and bookstore manager at Duke University.
Wilkerson is currently working on a marketing strategy to promote the Alta Gracia clothing line via posters, postcards, to be sent to students, and advertisements in Duke University’s campus newspaper, The Chronicle.
The university’s role in the movement against sweatshops is to not only cut costs for men’s and women’s apparel, but, through the company’s efforts, is also helping lower-income citizens living in the Dominican Republic earn a fair wage.
Alex Vera can be reached at avera813@gmail.com