Ben & Jerry's ice cream company co-founder Ben Cohen is taking on the oft-cited argument of the American garment industry that clothing manufacturers cannot afford to pay decent wages to their workers because of competition from companies in developing countries. Cohen borrowed $1.5 million from his own social venture fund to start the SweatX company which will pay its Union of Needletrade, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) organized workers $8.50 an hour plus health and other benefits, pension and profit-sharing. The company will focus on the upper end of the casual market with hemp and natural cotton fabrics with social awareness slogans, gearing their product towards students and college campuses in the hopes of tapping into anti-sweatshop sentiments.
See NANCY CLEELAND, Los Angeles Times, April 8, 2002