What's in a Union Made T-shirt?

There’s really no point in trying to hide it. The difference is just too stark. On any given t-shirt order, you’ll pay anywhere from 15 to 200 percent more (depending on how sophisticated your design is) for a union made shirt.

This hurts, and there’s no getting around it. It is no wonder that the majority of orders for custom-printed union made t-shirts are from unions themselves. Even within the union world, many won’t bite the bullet, and end up going with imports or (only slightly less expensive) USA made, non-union T's.

We find ourselves in a situation where a win-win lies just around the bend, yet we can’t quite catch up to it. If all the vocal supporters of unions made a commitment to purchasing union made merchandise for their organizations, the cost difference between union goods and imports would shrink, and shrink dramatically.

Foreign t-shirt factories overcome their inherent disadvantage (i.e. being really far away from the customer) by shipping hundreds of thousands of shirts at a time, to be stored in regional warehouses. So when you call up and ask your merchandiser for a royal blue union-made t-shirt, they might have to make a few calls and get back to you. But if you want a royal blue t-shirt from China, you can rest assured that there’s an impressive pile of them sitting around somewhere close by. Ironic? Decidedly.

We need better paying jobs in this country. We need to reduce the absurd gap between rich and poor in order to thrive. The current economic crisis, born from unchecked greed, should have driven this point home for everyday Americans, many of whom lost their jobs, their homes, and/or their savings.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Doing the right thing may be difficult at first, but in the long run makes everything easier. Investing in solar technology may increase our deficit at first, but the long term dividends of energy independence and a cleaner environment make the choice a no-brainer. It’s the same with investing in good jobs. Good jobs mean more people are creating wealth rather than depending on the government for handouts and services. The resulting growth in GDP will lead to greater spending, and the opportunity for our dollars to support thriving manufacturing sectors here AND in foreign countries, where such jobs are also sorely needed.

Progressives understand this on a theoretical level. It is time to start walking the walk. Ethix Ventures and our allies in the anti-sweatshop movement are here to start the dialog, and apply the gentle pressure needed to move our economy toward justice (and prosperity) for all. Please help us spread the word.