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| Maggie's
is a staunch supporter of fair labor practices,
responsible business ethics, and environmental
stewardship. We partner with a close-knit
community of farmers, yarn mills and garment
assemblers in both the U.S. and abroad. "Developing
relationships with people who work in the
mills and sew our garments is one of the unique
things about Maggie's," said Bená Burda, President
of Maggie's Organics. "Their stories, families,
and lives enrich ours, and we're blessed with
a customer base that believes all of this
is important." |
First Meeting with Opportunity Threads
November 2007 |
A FEW OF OUR PARTNERS:
Opportunity Threads
Ever since 1999, when Maggie's President, Bená Burda
helped a group of hurricane victims form a worker-owned
sewing cooperative in Nicaragua (The Fair Trade
Zone), she had hoped to one day bring the idea home,
where so many US apparel workers have lost their
livelihood. In the summer of 2007, while presenting
at a workshop in Asheville, Bená met the folks from
SACCO (Southern Appalachian Center for Cooperative
Ownership/ Ownership Appalachia), and they agreed
to help her turn Maggie's dream of a domestic sewing
cooperative into a reality.
Molly Hemstreet of SACCO made the connection with
the workers, all from Morganton, North Carolina,
one of the many towns in the Southeast with boarded
up apparel mills and talented workers. Maggie's
took thousands of pairs of extra socks, partnered
with SACCO and the motivated workers, and through
many design incarnations, came up with Maggie's
Sock Monkeys.
The Sock Monkeys, designed and made from our slightly
irregular Crew socks, were an immediate hit, and
so a "Maggie's Menagerie" line began to grow. Penguins
were next, as we had an abundance of off-spec Lounge
Pants (in Black) and Baby Bodysuits (in Natural).
Our wildly popular Tie Dye Legwarmers make the perfect
Penguin cap. The animal line has continued to grow:
The Barnyard Series launched in summer 2009, with
Chickens, Sheep, Cows, and Pigs - all adorable and
creatively designed by the working members of Opportunity
Threads. More new animals are on their way, and
private label is available.
The worker/members are the real story here. They
are talented, committed, and are putting it all
on the line every day for the chance to build their
own business. We are more impressed each day with
their creativity and ability to rise to each new
challenge. There is much left to do to make this
project a success, but it continues to be a source
of pride for us all. They have aptly named their
new business Opportunity Threads, and we are proud
to be their partner.
For more information: http://www.opportunity
threads.com
The VG Kids - Ypsilanti, MI
Less than 3 miles from Maggie's headquarters is
VG Kids, a screen printing shop that offers products
and services including custom designed t-shirts,
bumper stickers, posters, CD covers, buttons, and
banners. VG Kids prints many of our garments using
soft, crisp water-based inks. Owner James Marks
illustrated the art used for several of our unique
products including our award-winning Baby Bodysuit
and Cap sets, and worked with our designers to create
our printed scarf line. VG Kids' creativity and
imagination has become an integral part of Maggie's
success.
For more information : http://www.vgkids.com
CIA Textiles – San Jose, Costa Rica
We have worked with CIA Textiles in Costa Rica for
nearly 5 years now, first as our fabric knitter
and dyer, and later as our cutter and sewer. CIA
began in 1956 by Israel Nowalski, a Polish immigrant
to Costa Rica. Mr. Nowalski, now 91 years old and
still coming to work every day, is a true pioneer,
both as a producer and as a social entrepreneur.
Mr. Nowalski started a worker association at CIA
long before national protection for Costa Rican
workers began, donating an additional 5% of each
workers gross salary into a fund for worker benefits.
This fund, now financed by Costa Rica’s national
social programs, still provides a clinic with out-of-the
ordinary health care, and has built a special building
in a national park across the street where CIA workers
and the community at large takes swimming lessons
and learns about Costa Rica’s amazing plant and
animal species. In an association-managed program,
a total of 60 CIA employees were able to purchase
home-building lots at very low prices, and have
built houses for their families with low-interest
loans from the association. We visited some of these
homes, and spoke to workers and their families who
have now lived in them for decades, adding on second
stories as their families grew, creating gardens,
sending their children to private schools, and more.
One of the most amazing parts of visiting CIA is
speaking with employees, mainly heads of households,
who have worked there for over 30years. CIA pays
a minimum of 15% more than the average wage for
the apparel sector in Costa Rica (currently $2.40
per hour), and continues to provide many additional
benefits as well. CIA now pays 8% into social security,
pays into a retirement fund for all workers, pays
a 13th month salary to all workers, and provides
a minimum of 15 days paid vacation per year. The
worker association at CIA is not a union, but is
independent of CIA management, and operates healthcare,
wellness clinics and a variety of clinics and special
programs.
Coopcostura - San Jose, Costa Rica
Coopcostura was formed in 1988 as the result of
a factory owner who abandoned his building, machinery,
and unpaid workers. The workers were able to take
control of the plant and turn it into a thriving
business. The Coop's partnership with Maggie's is
their first opportunity to work directly with a
client.
Daycare and school bonuses for Coopcostura's workers
were provided for over ten years, until it became
financially impossible to continue these programs.
Through our partnership, Coopcostura placed a large
part of their Maggie's earnings into an account
for the education and well-being of the workers
and their families. Starting in February of 2008,
Coopcostura's enabled them to give monetary assistance
to workers with school age children, the first of
what we hope will be many worker-chosen programs.
We hope to work more with Coopcostura in the future.
The Fair Trade Zone - Nueva Vida, Nicaragua
In an effort to uphold a commitment to social responsibility,
Maggie's Organics is proud to have played a critical
role in the creation and development of The Fair
Trade Zone, a sewing cooperative in a highly impoverished
area of Nicaragua. Ravished by Hurricane Mitch and
a series of other natural disasters, the inhabitants
of Nueva Vida, Nicaragua, found themselves forced
to work in sweatshops if they found employment at
all. A partnership with Maggie's Organics and an
NGO, Jubilee House, has helped them build a dream
- The Fair Trade Zone. The Fair Trade Zone is now
a successful and independent business, which is
100% owned by its workers.
The members of the coop literally built the plant
from the ground up with their own hands. They installed
donated equipment, educated each other about what
it means to make garments with organic cotton, and
learned to fulfill the special requirements for
production with organic goods. These women have
spent nights sleeping in the sewing facility to
guard their equipment; they have survived on pooling
their food resources, even eating the avocados grown
on the nearby trees. They have gone through the
hardships of starting a business and all the challenges
of owning a business.
The Fair Trade Zone has become the world's first
and only 100% worker-owned free trade zone. This
status allows the cooperative to compete with foreign-owned
free trade zones enjoying the same tax and export
benefits, while keeping the profits in their own
community. "We hope this project will serve as a
model of social responsibility for companies doing
business in developing countries," said Maggie's
President Bená Burda.
For more information: http://www.jhc-cdca.org/
(please select "Garment Workers" from the left hand
selection bar)
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