When I was at Green Fest this year, I heard a talk by a representative from a company called Alta Gracia, which is a company that makes apparel specifically for universities, out of a factory in the Dominican Republic.
She spoke about Knights Apparel, a major clothing manufacturer that decided, "Hey, let's try this fair wages thing in our factories." And so they opened a factory and installed revolutionary ideas like fans, lunch breaks, fair wages, health benefits and other little known amenities. The employees are able to purchase a house, send their kids to school, and not worry about having enough food. That's nice, I think to myself.
Then she hits us with the real shocker. She asks us, "How much do you think it costs per garment for Alta Gracia to pay their workers a living wage?"
My immediate thought is that it must be outrageous, otherwise why would sweatshops ever exist...
Someone says 16 dollars. I think that's a bit steep, and the speaker shakes her head.
Someone says 4 dollars. The speaker grins slightly.
"It costs Alta Gracia 80 cents per garment to pay fair wages and provide good working conditions."
Eighty cents out of a 20 dollar tee shirt? You have got to be kidding me.
So you must be thinking, like I did initally, that sweatshops must be some heinous act of evil by someone who has no regard for human life. But, the model of progress, the capitalist system, makes the CEOs only see it from one angle. If you are churning out 1 million shirts a year as a company and someone tells you that you can save your company 800,000 dollars by shipping the work to country with little to no labor laws, you are suddenly the company hero. You get promoted in business by either selling like mad or saving operational dollars. When being faced with success our ability to look the other way at injustice become more trained.
But, Alta Gracia exists because consumers, in their case students, became proactive about how their clothing was being made. Companies start caring when customers use their voice. Good companies can only exist because we support them. It has really made me rethink the clearance rack at Macy's.
She spoke about Knights Apparel, a major clothing manufacturer that decided, "Hey, let's try this fair wages thing in our factories." And so they opened a factory and installed revolutionary ideas like fans, lunch breaks, fair wages, health benefits and other little known amenities. The employees are able to purchase a house, send their kids to school, and not worry about having enough food. That's nice, I think to myself.
Then she hits us with the real shocker. She asks us, "How much do you think it costs per garment for Alta Gracia to pay their workers a living wage?"
My immediate thought is that it must be outrageous, otherwise why would sweatshops ever exist...
Someone says 16 dollars. I think that's a bit steep, and the speaker shakes her head.
Someone says 4 dollars. The speaker grins slightly.
"It costs Alta Gracia 80 cents per garment to pay fair wages and provide good working conditions."
Eighty cents out of a 20 dollar tee shirt? You have got to be kidding me.
So you must be thinking, like I did initally, that sweatshops must be some heinous act of evil by someone who has no regard for human life. But, the model of progress, the capitalist system, makes the CEOs only see it from one angle. If you are churning out 1 million shirts a year as a company and someone tells you that you can save your company 800,000 dollars by shipping the work to country with little to no labor laws, you are suddenly the company hero. You get promoted in business by either selling like mad or saving operational dollars. When being faced with success our ability to look the other way at injustice become more trained.
But, Alta Gracia exists because consumers, in their case students, became proactive about how their clothing was being made. Companies start caring when customers use their voice. Good companies can only exist because we support them. It has really made me rethink the clearance rack at Macy's.
No comments:
Post a Comment