One of the biggest reasons that I chose to come to the Dominican Republic was the chance to work with a local NGO for academic credit through a class offered by my CIEE program. Students in my class are interning with an extremely wide range of organizations, from an LGBTQ-focused public health organization to MLB baseball teams to local schools. Specifically, I was very excited for the chance to intern with the union at the Alta Gracia factory, a factory that makes t-shirts for U.S. colleges and universities and is considered revolutionary for its fair labor practices, including paying workers a living wage as well as granting access to a union, an on-site medical center, and opportunities for workers and their families to attend local universities. So far, I have found my internship with the factory both challenging and rewarding.
Back at Georgetown, one of my biggest involvements is with Georgetown Solidarity Committee (GSC), which is a non-hierarchical student group committed to holding Georgetown accountable to the Just Employment Policy and otherwise dedicated to workers’ rights and social justice issues both on campus and in the greater community. I joined GSC a year ago after my spring break trip Worker Justice DC through the Alternative Breaks Program on campus. Through these two amazing programs, I became interested in viewing my Georgetown major of International Political Economy through the lens of economic justice and solutions to inequality. For these reasons, finding out about the possibility to have an internship with one of the most unique factories in the world was a chance that I couldn’t pass up.
Initially, it was a challenge just finding enough time in my schedule to complete eight hours per week with the union, given that the factory is located about two hours away from Santo Domingo. What we have decided is that I will come on Wednesdays and Fridays for three hours each. On Wednesdays, I teach English to workers’ families and do two hours of class preparation at home.
My Wednesday English classes have proven to be my biggest challenge. Although I have some teaching experience with preschoolers through the Jumpstart AmeriCorps program, this is nowhere near enough for what the union has me doing. Additionally, I was given no materials or textbooks to conduct my classes with, so I normally prepare sessions with my lord and savior that is Google. Beyond this, my class is composed of people of various ages, from ten year olds to adults. Everyone speaks little to no English, and weekly attendance is spotty at best. With all of these factors, I am pretty pessimistic about the impact I am having. I am currently trying to acquire a textbook from a friend I have in the teach abroad program that is also sponsored by CIEE so that, when I leave, my students will at least have a way to do exercises and continue learning without me.
My biggest rewards from my internship come on Fridays, when I work on union tasks while at the factory. So far I have chatted with workers to learn about the factory and to establish relationships, polled workers on their biggest complaints with the factory (most common answer: old machinery), and taken photos for Alta Gracia to use on social media (like us on Facebook!).
Just being able to be at the factory and observe daily occurrences has also been interesting. A couple of weeks ago, the owner of Alta Gracia came down to Santo Domingo and had a meeting with workers, something that he does two to three times a year. The owner is a white, American man with a heavy southern accent. He talked with the workers about the importance of staying productive (high productivity is needed to counterbalance paying workers living wages) and asked for their input on what can be done to improve conditions.
While Alta Gracia has the best working conditions of any factory in the free trade zone, it has its limitations. As a U.S.-owned factory that is situated in the Dominican Republic to make clothes for U.S. colleges and universities, Alta Gracia in some ways perpetuates the idea that Latin American countries have comparative advantages in labor costs and therefore maintains the region’s economic dependency on the U.S. for industrialized goods.
Additionally, the factory is very small compared to its sweatshop counterparts, literally located right across the street that pay poverty-level wages and employ hundreds more workers. It is also very new, having only opened in 2010. Sometimes called the Alta Gracia Project, the factory will need to become profitable for its owners to keep it open in our capitalist system.
My time at Alta Gracia has been thought provoking. There are ways in which I think the factory could become more ethical, and there are reasons why I can see that some people might consider the factory to be too idealistic. Alta Gracia largely relies on student activism at colleges and universities to spread the word and buy its products. Workers occasionally go on tours to share the story of the factory that is fighting sweatshop labor. I am proud to say that Georgetown is one of the schools that supports Alta Gracia, and I hope to continue supporting the factory in any way I can back on the Hilltop when I return.
Peace.Love.Justice
