The Women's Sewing Cooperative, the Fair
Trade Zone in Ciudad Sandino, Nicaragua, is
now operating completely independently!
Operating since 2001, the co-op is the first worker-owned free
trade
zone in the world, sewing organic and fair trade cotton clothing for
export to
the
What is organic clothing? It’s made from cloth using organically certified cotton, which is important for the environment since cotton is the second most pesticide-laden crop in the world (non-organic coffee is number one). [To find out more about organic cotton]
What is fair trade clothing? It has been made in a factory where the workers receive fair wages, benefits, have good working conditions and are not exploited.
We've all heard about the closing of the textiles in the U.S. to go to Third World "sweatshops," places of pitiful wages, horrible labor conditions, long hours, rapes, murders of organizers, and the horrid list goes on.
But when workers own their own business these abuses are not
possibilities, because there is no "boss" to force these conditions on
anyone. The workers are the owners, and they alone decide how they
themselves are treated. With the CDCA
providing capital for building and machinery, the women members of the
co-op worked for two years with no pay to construct their future work
site. It was their choice to make that sacrifice to set up
their business, and that sacrifice has paid off.
Still, co-op members struggle day-to-day. Many of these women come from no formalized education and they've had to scrape and scratch to survive. Now they are struggling to learn cooperativism, management, accountability, administration, quality, marketing, and import/export laws. The Fair Trade Zone is owned by around 20% of the workers. The CDCA hopes there will come a time when 100% of the workers own the business.
The co-op started off making t-shirts, and
those are
still their bread and butter. In fact,
they sell 75,000 organic tees per year to the Presbyterian Church, USA,
through
the Enough for Everyone Program.
If you would like to know more about the formation of the Women's Sewing Cooperative and how it became the world's first worker-owned free trade zone, the Fair Trade Zone, this information is available in English and Spanish online, with color photos. A black and white printable version is also available.
English Version: Give It Your All
Spanish Version: Que Le Eche Ganas
Write the CDCA an email to purchase a black and white printed version
In 2002 the co-op's main client, Maggie's Clean Clothes, brought a film crew to Nicaragua and made an 11 minute video on the women and their relationships with the CDCA and Maggie's Clean Clothes. To view the video click on the link below.
Ants
that Move Mountains