Labor & Employment Law

Join Oct. 27 Forum to Learn How Factory in Developing World Pays Living Wage

By James Parks

Alta Gracia is the first known apparel factory in the developing world to pay a living wage. For the first time, the 120 workers at the factory in Villa Altagracia, a small impoverished town in the Dominican Republic, are being paid enough to support themselves and their families.

Next week, a panel of experts will discuss the promise and challenges of the Alta Gracia project during a forum Oct. 27 at 9:30 a.m. in the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. Panelists include Georgetown professor John Kline, Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) Executive Director Scott  Nova, AFL-CIO International Affairs Director Cathy Feingold and Robert Stumberg of the Georgetown University Law Center.

For more information, contact Georgetown?s Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at 202-687-2293 or kilwp@georgetown.edu.

The factory and brand, Alta Gracia, is named after the town and is owned by Spartanburg, S.C.-based Knights Apparel, the leading supplier of college-logo apparel to U.S. universities, according to the Collegiate Licensing Co. Alta Gracia pays the workers about three-and-a-half times the average pay of the country?s apparel workers?and allows workers to join a union without interference.

Joseph Bozich, CEO of Knights Apparel, worked closely for two years with WRC to make sure the factory treated workers fairly. The workers formed a union and held the founding meeting in June 2010. The AFL-CIO Solidarity Center assisted the workers in forming a union and establishing labor standards at the factory.

Feingold, who trained representatives from the local union in the Dominican Republic, says:

Working people need to do everything we can to promote Alta Gracia products and make it a success. We should encourage colleges to order the T-shirts and sweatshirts, and support them through state and local procurement policies and generally spread the word.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on October 22, 2010 (boomark / email).