Catherwood LibraryILR School

A new factory experiment is drawing praise from human rights groups and United Students Against Sweatshops. The factory is based in the Dominican Republic and is owned by Knights Apparel, which is the leading maker of college-logo apparel. The factory has 120 employees, all of whom are paid a living wage, as determined by a human rights group study. The living wage is three times the minimum wage, and workers are allowed to join a union without protest from the company. The CEO of Knights Apparel said that they hope the experiment works, because they would like to prove that workers rights and profits are not mutually exclusive. The costs of manufacturing the clothes are slightly higher, and the company says that it will absorb the cost. Retailers say that they have plans to market the line heavily to students, hoping that they will buy it over brands like Nike and Adidas. The brand is endorsed by the Worker Rights Consortium, and United Students Against Sweatshops say that they will market the brand to students, rather than protesting against it. Workers at the factory say that the living wage has made a huge difference, and they hope that the factory succeeds.