The Fair Trade Zone
2008 Update: The Fair Trade Zone is now handling its own business arrangements.  This page remains for its historical value and information but is no longer being updated by the JHC-CDCA.  Please contact the Fair Trade Zone directly for up-to-date information.

Ruth and Ethical Threads orderThe Women's Sewing Cooperative, the Fair Trade Zone in Ciudad Sandino, Nicaragua, is now seven years old and is the first worker-owned free trade zone in the world! The cooperative sews organic and fair trade cotton clothing for export to the U.S. and Europe.

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.

Cooperative members digging their building's postholes 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 with little capital for an inventory. Their permanent work is not yet secure (it's either feast or famine) and they are still learning. 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. They are learning, but it’s a long process.

Becca & Rogelio with tee samplesThe 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. They have really honed their sewing skills, however, and now make garments such as elegant cross tops, camisoles, pants and baby onesies for Maggie's Organics, their largest client and maker of the video produced about the co-op. They also do custom orders for clothing designers such as René Geneva of Faernyn’s Grove, for whom they make organic corsets, kimono blouses and western dresses. Their t-shirts can also be bought from Mission Playground and North Country Fair Trade.

cooperative members 2002 You can help. Order shirts from them. Visit their website: FairTradeZone.jhc-cdca.org. Spread the word. They want work, not pity.

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 Fair Trade Zone 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


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