“Tejid@s Junt@s / Stitched Together: Workers, Students, and the Movement for Alta Gracia” (Will Delphia 2012) is an important and highly anticipated film nearing release. Alta Gracia is a unique factory in the Dominican Republic where workers participate in a strong and independent union, receive a living wage of more than three times the local minimum wage, and are afforded dignity and respect on the job. These workers cut and sew fabric into Tee Shirts, Hoodies, and other apparel destined for university and college bookstores bearing school names and logos. Alta Gracia is a fair alternative to the all too-common unsafe working conditions, poverty wages, and strict, repressive work environments at other factories.
The story of Alta Gracia is that of a hard-won victory. The brick-and-mortar factory and many of the workers at Alta Gracia were once a part of another firm called BJ&B that produced clothing for Nike™ and other brands under appalling conditions. Workers fought a long battle to win a collective bargaining agreement with the factory owners at BJ&B only to be faced with mass layoffs and eventually a factory closure. The film explains how workers, conscientious investors, and student activists collaborated to bring life to this new and important project.
Alta Gracia bears the name of the town in which the factory sits, and the name of this film plays at the myriad ways that our communities here in the United States are interwoven with communities abroad; how we as students are connected to garment workers the world over and how finding and exposing those connections can bring about positive change in the lives of people everywhere.
Will Delphia, an aspiring documentary filmmaker, is a Senior at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. This film was independently produced as his senior thesis.
View an excerpt of the film.
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Organize a simultaneous release party -- be part of the world premiere of the film on April 18! [2]