Alta Gracia Verification Report

January 29, 2016

Dear Colleagues,

The WRC has completed our annual comprehensive verification report on the Altagracia Project factory in Villa Altagracia, Dominican Republic, for the monitoring period September 1, 2014–September 1, 2015. Altagracia continues to far exceed the industry norm in virtually every area of labor rights compliance. Incidents of non-compliance are relatively small and have generally been promptly addressed by management.

As many of you know, the Altagracia factory, which produces collegiate licensed apparel under the Alta Gracia Apparel label, operates under a commitment to labor rights standards significantly superior to the industry norm. Collegiate licensee Knights Apparel, which established Altagracia in 2010, incorporated these standards into its operations from the beginning of the project. Unlike any other factory producing collegiate apparel to our knowledge, Altagracia pays a living wage, which is nearly three times the legally required minimum wage.

During this reporting period, Alta Gracia Apparel became an independent firm. The owners of the new firm, which is registered in the United States as Alta Gracia Holdco, have affirmed that they will continue to follow the project’s labor rights standards. As is reflected in this report, management has continued to uphold these high standards, and the effect of the transition on the workers has been minimal. The spinoff of Alta Gracia Apparel into an independent firm occurred in April 2015, when HanesBrands acquired Knights Apparel.

The factory continues to serve as a model of respect for workers’ freedom of association. Management and worker representatives are currently in the process of negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement, which includes a wage increase; we will update universities when the contract is signed. In addition, during this reporting period, factory management, the union, and the WRC collaborated to develop and implement workshops on productivity and motivation. These workshops provided an opportunity for workers to identify ways to improve the work of their own teams, better understand the factory’s financial situation, and offer suggestions to management on the best ways to improve productivity.

As always, please contact me if you have any questions. 

Best,

Scott

Scott Nova 
Worker Rights Consortium 
5 Thomas Circle NW, 5th Floor
Washington, DC 20005 
ph 202 387 4884 
fax 202 387 3292 
[email protected] 
www.workersrights.org