According to Inside Higher Ed, Duke Stores has agreed to purchase $250,000 in sweatshop free labor from Knights Apparel, a collegiate garment company. Although not yet public, reports have surfaced of an agreement between Knights Apparel and Grupo N, a large garment export group in the Dominican Republic, to provide workers with “exemplary labor conditions”. Under the proposed agreement, Knights Apparel will pay a higher price for its garments from the factory in the Dominican Republic as long as its workers receive a “living wage” and have the freedom to unionize. While the cost of these increased labor conditions will be passed on to the consumer, retailers only expect garments prices to increase by a couple of dollars.
The Workers Rights Consortium, which has been working on the deal for over a year, will ensure that the labor standards are met. According to an e-mail obtained by The Chronicle that was sent to university officials from the Workers Right Consortium:
“This will be the first apparel export facility in the developing world where workers will earn a verified living wage. This wage will be more than three times the prevailing wage for apparel workers in the Dominican Republic. It will, we anticipate, be part of a collective bargaining agreement negotiated with a representative union. This will also be the first time an apparel brand has agreed to re-structure a supply chain relationship in order to facilitate progress on labor rights. These are historic breakthroughs.”
The Workers Rights Consortium was unable to comment on the specifics of the deal because it has not yet been finalized.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I find this to be a tremendous waste of resources, at a time when the University can hardly afford such luxuries. The focus should first be on improving our university, not on helping those garment workers whose well-being does not affect our day-to-day activity.
Central campus is pitiful. For such an elite institution to even allow their students to live in such low-class conditions, is an embarrassment.
This purchase of apparel is a gross misallocation of resources.
To anyone out there worried about a potential conflict of interest or breach of journalistic ethics rules:
I, Alex Klein, The Chronicle’s Editor for New Media, did not write the above comment, though my name and email address were used. Someone–probably someone who knows both my position and my NetID–faked my identity to write an opinionated comment that does not necessarily reflect my or The Chronicle Editorial Board’s view.
We’re sorry for any confusion. To report any mischief, slander, libel, vulgarities and/or personal attacks in any portion of The Chronicle Blog Network or the online version of The Chronicle, please email our editor (Chelsea Allison), our online editor (Sean Moroney) or me. Thank you.