Starting this fall, the Penn Bookstore will offer a line of branded apparel manufactured under conditions that exceed current university requirements for apparel licensees.
Acting on the recommendation of the Worker Rights Consortium, of which Penn is a member, the Bookstore will carry clothing manufactured by Knights Apparel.
According to a WRC press release, the Knights Apparel factory, located in the Dominican Republic, will offer workers three times the prevailing wage, and the workers will be unionized.
Although Business Services associate Vice President Christopher Bradie said having a "manufacturer code of conduct is not a new initiative," he explained that Penn will use Knights Apparel because WRC endorsed the company's latest efforts to improve workers' conditions.
All apparel licenses have been subject to a workplace code of conduct since 2000, which regulates living wages, child labor, discrimination and safety, among other issues.
Bradie praised WRC for its proactive endorsement of Knights Apparel.
"Knights Apparel has taken this to a different level," he said, adding that the company will also allow a third party, WRC, to verify that they are maintaining these standards.
Even so, Business Services spokeswoman Barbara Lea-Kruger said there will not be a "huge price differential."
Both the price and selection of the garments will "fall in line with other major manufacturers," according to Brodie.
"This is a process," Lea-Kruger said, explaining that "this doesn't mean there isn't a lot more work to be done" on the issue.
Many shoppers at the Bookstore were enthusiastic about the move.
College junior Ellen Benveniste said even if prices are higher, she doubts they will deter buyers.
"Since most people bursar and their parents pay, they would be willing to pay more," she said.
David Roth, a high-school junior from Atlanta, took a different view. He said the eco-friendliness of the clothing, rather than the labor standards under which it was made, are of primary importance.
Meanwhile his mother, Renee, said she would be willing to pay more for better labor standards, but only if it benefits American workers.
"At this point, I don't know if I want to take money out of the American economy and give it to another economy," she said.
All agreed that helping workers is positive.
"I approve," said Engineering senior Boris Petkov. "It's better knowing that the clothes I'm wearing are not made by underpaid 12-year-olds," he said.
"It's always a great thing when Penn uses its money, power and prestige to stand with working behind," College junior Natalie Kelly, a member of the Penn Student Labor Action Project, wrote in an e-mail. "This seems like a step in the right direction."
