University of Virginia Bookstore director Jon Kates is taking a stand for garment workers’ rights, and beginning next semester, students, alumni, and fans will have the opportunity to join him. This coming fall, the bookstore will offer Alta Gracia Apparel, a company that is changing the collegiate garment industry by offering an alternative to sweatshop labor.
Since it was founded in 2010, Alta Gracia has gained widespread recognition for its ethical policies and workplace conditions. Employees at its factory in the Dominican Republic earn more than three times the minimum wage in free-trade zones. Additionally, workers are permitted to unionize for a voice on the job and the factory is frequently monitored for top health and safety conditions by the Worker Rights Consortium.
Second-year College student Luis Ortiz of the Latino Student Alliance (LSA) had the opportunity to visit the Alta Gracia factory this past December and witnessed firsthand the positive impact it is having on the local community. Located in the town of Villa Altagracia, the plant provides wages to its workers that allow them to send their children to school, improve their homes, and eat far better than they did previously.
“They are not all of a sudden rich,” Ortiz said of Alta Gracia employees. “They are now able to meet basic necessities.”
Ortiz also discussed the pride of one man who is finally able to afford to construct his own home, a milestone in the man’s life. “By just changing a consumer choice, we can make such a difference in people’s lives,” Ortiz said.
Student representatives from Feminism is for Everyone (FIFE) and LSA began the campaign to bring Alta Gracia products to U.Va. earlier this year. Their growing coalition of CIOs in support of Alta Gracia includes the Black Student Alliance, Phi Sigma Pi Honor Fraternity, the Living Wage Campaign, Women’s Health Virginia at U.Va., the Queer Student Union and more. Several of these groups have already placed orders through the bookstore to purchase Alta Gracia apparel with their individual logos and designs, and they have found that Alta Gracia garments are both high quality and price-competitive.
With the addition of Alta Gracia apparel to our bookstore, the University will join more than 400
colleges and universities across the country who offer Alta Gracia as a sweatshop-free alternative for school apparel. Among them, Duke, Yale, NYU, the University of Washington, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame have been particularly successful in selling Alta Gracia products.
While the bookstore will offer an initial amount of Alta Gracia products next semester, student support will be necessary to keep sweatshop-free apparel available at the University. Student organizations can contact the bookstore to place individual orders from Alta Gracia and upperclassmen can encourage incoming first years to choose socially responsible products when shopping at the bookstore.
Although only part of the bookstore’s merchandise will be sourced by Alta Gracia, Ortiz points out that “the real goal is to have not a single sweatshop-made product” in coming years. Choosing Alta Gracia products at the bookstore, which is a non- profit organization, not only supports workers in the Dominican Republic. It also challenges students and the greater University community to be mindful consumers.
Caroline Harman is a second-year College student. Jonah Dister is a first-year College student. They are members of Feminism is for Everyone (FIFE).
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