Workers discuss human rights violations

Yenny Perez and Pablo Avelino both grew up working in garment factories where laborers were physically abused by their supervisors.

When textile company Alta Gracia was established in their hometown in the Dominican Republic, its ethical labor policies changed their lives.

“It came to us at a time when we most needed it, like when God came to the people of Egypt,” said Avelino. “This is what Alta Gracia is to us, this bread that came to us, in order to survive.”

Yesterday evening, Perez and Avelino, two workers from the Alta Gracia, spoke about human rights in the garment industry at La Casa Latino Cultural Center.

An interpreter translated their Spanish words to English for a small audience of apparel students, fair trade activists and professors alike.

The event was hosted by IU anti-sweatshop group No Sweat! in collaboration with Solidarity Ignite, a nonprofit organization that tours the U.S. informing students about global labor conditions.

“We do this in hopes of creating a more transparent and just system of trade,” Solidarity Ignite organizer Amy Kessel said.

Alta Gracia is a “model garment factory” based in the Via Alta Gracia, a town in the Dominican Republic.

The wage offered at Alta Gracia is called a living wage, or salario digno, because it is three times the local minimum, said Kessel.

Perez said in other garment factories, laborers barely make enough to feed themselves.

“We also have exchanges with garment workers in other factories, and when you hear from them what they’re living through on a day-to-day basis, I would say it’s like modern-day slavery,” she said.

It prides itself on ethical labor practices such as providing health care, safety precautions and a living wage for its workers.

The company mainly produces spirit wear for universities in the United States. They sell IU apparel online.

“Alta Gracia is the only factory we know of in these times that actually offers a dignified wage to workers, that actually treats workers with respects on the jobs, that actually follows the law to a tee,” Perez said.

Avelino said he remembers working for a factory that would confiscate the workers’ punch cards so they couldn’t be paid for the overtime hours they worked. People were fired for standing up for themselves.

“These giant multinational brands that are making millions of dollars are only able to do this with the hands of people that make their product,” said Perez. “Why do they continue to ignore the treatment of these people?”

Audience members looked at the ground.

Alta Gracia’s history is rooted in student involvement.

Encouraged by the victories of United Students Against Sweatshops in exposing the unfair treatment of workers in global garment factories, Kessel said the factory of Alta Gracia was formed on the basis that people respect companies that respect their workers.

The factory provides a living wage, top notch health and safety conditions, a democratic workers union, and an association with the Workers Rights Consortium.

Kessel said all of this does not hinder their ability to work as a profitable company.

“It proves that a business doesn’t have to go bankrupt to treat its workers right,” said Kessel.

Kessel said Alta Gracia is a stark contrast to other garment factories globally because they don’t exploit their workers.

“It’s kind of like a beacon of hope that represents a change in the industry,” said Kessel.

Perez said establishing a factory like Alta Gracia is a victory that can be used as an arm in the global fight for labor rights.

“We as workers are here in front of you promoting not a brand but a global movement, a fight,” said Perez. “We’ve specifically targeted you, our students, to share our message because you are the strongest people in the world.”

Follow reporter Sarah Zinn on Twitter @sarah_zinn.