Change Your Clothes: Online Workshops

CHANGE your clothes!  CHANGE the garment industry!  CHANGE workers’ lives!

Join other members of the Ignatian family for a series of online workshops about Alta Gracia, a living-wage union-made apparel initiative rooted in a decade of student and worker organizing!

Thanks to more than a decade of cross-border collaborations between workers in the Dominican Republic and campus communities in the US led by United Students Against Sweatshops, Alta Gracia brings living-wage college-logo t-shirts and hoodies to hundreds of college campuses. We want to see more! Help us bring a meaningful amount toyour campus that will support workers and signal to the industry: we want change!

This New York Times article is helpful introduction to Alta Gracia, as is this recent article in The Nation. This video on the impact of living wages at Alta Gracia in union leader Martiza Vargas’ family and this quick video about the project’s history, made by students in United Students Against Sweatshops are also great.

Alta Gracia presents a new business model that sets a social responsibility standard above all other brands in the collegiate market by paying a “living wage”. Set at more than three-times the Dominican minimum wage and based on a cost of living study conducted by independent labor rights watchdog Workers Rights Consortium this “salario digno” enables workers to support their families with dignity, covering food, housing, transportation, health care and education costs for their children. The ripple effect in the community is impressive: new businesses have opened across from the factory, construction has picked up as workers invest in more livable homes, and not just children but Alta Gracia workers themselves are going back to school to continue where poverty had forced them to abandon studies. At Alta Gracia, workers enjoy top health and safety standards at work and a union – a voice on the job. WRC has unrestricted access to the factory and regularly consults with workers in the community to ensure accountability.  You can also read “Will College Loyalty Embrace ‘Living Wage’ Sweatshirts?”, a research study written by John Kline, Ph.D. (Georgetown University).

Help transform the global apparel industry and the lives of workers and their families in Villa Altagracia. Join us for a workshop and get involved to bring a substantial amount of Alta Gracia to your campus. The more living-wage union-made apparel our schools sell, the more people are able to benefit – not only are workers in Villa Altagracia empowered by this brand, but more living-wage union-made apparel in our bookstores means less of less responsible brands. It sends a clear message that can shape the wider industry – students demand respectful treatment of workers.

BRINGING ALTA GRACIA TO YOUR HIGH SCHOOL & COMMUNITY: TEACHING ABOUT ALTA GRACIA
Wednesday, January18th at 3pm Eastern/ 12pm Pacific – VIEW WEBINAR RECORDING

For high school students and staff interested in learning more about Alta Gracia and how to bring it to your school/community – others are welcome.

ALTA GRACIA: ROOTS & IMPACT OF THE FIRST LIVING-WAGE UNION-MADE COLLEGE LOGO APPAREL INITIATIVE
Thursday the 19th 4pm Eastern/ 1pm Pacific

For university students and staff interested in learning more about Alta Gracia, the background, the history, and how you can educate your campus.

STUDENT ORGANIZING: HOW TO RUN A WINNING CAMPAIGN TO BRING LIVING-WAGE UNION-MADE APPAREL TO YOUR CAMPUS
Tuesday the 24th 9pm Eastern/ 6pm Pacific

For university and college students who want to engage their campus in Alta Gracia by educating their peers and increasing the presence of Alta Gracia products across campus.

STUDENT ORGANIZING: HOW TO BRING LIVING-WAGE UNION MADE APPAREL TO YOUR CAMPUS & COMMUNITY
Sunday, January, 29th – 4pm Eastern 

For high school students interested in learning how to organize students at your campus or in your community around Alta Gracia.

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Questions? Ideas? – Contact: [email protected].

Check out Alta Gracia on Facebook! www.facebook.com/wearaltagracia.