Who they are
A seamstress at a sewing machine may be an icon of the sweatshop economy, but at Ceres, a seamstress who owns her sewing machine symbolizes a way off the sweatshop treadmill.
For years, the men and women of Ceres were stuck in the debased working conditions of the apparel industry, toiling long hours for a fraction of their legal wages and being told there was no alternative. When Argentina's 2001 economic meltdown forced the factory to close, a daring group of these workers saw an opportunity to reopen the plant and take control of their lives.
Fighting to win legal control of some equipment and the Ceres brand, they put themselves to work again. Out of what began as a pragmatic quest, they have since discovered that through democratic management they have not only achieved higher and more regular salaries, but have also found a dignity and meaning in work that they had never known before. The struggle to find a profitable niche in their industry was difficult, but after two years they have finally found stability making shirts for bus drivers in a project funded by The Working World:La Base. Their sturdy but elegant shirts, worn by working people across the city, are now a symbol of their proud struggle and the freedom of their new lives.
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History
Like most of the factories featured on this site, Ceres was a victim of Argentina's historic economic collapse. It had been a small textile plant with a good name, but it folded like so many other factories, and most people walked away jobless.
After years of making less than ten percent of their contracted wage, the men and women of Ceres felt they had both a right and an obligation to keep the Ceres brand alive. With their cooperative in legal control of the brand and some machines, they found themselves a new home in a quiet part of Buenos Aires and began to make clothing again. The first two years were a struggle as they sought to find buyers for their unproven factory, but they are now on solid ground. With their current project with WW:La Base and now the ability to sell to the world market, they are ready to expand.
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Project with The Working World
After the 2001 crash, the Ceres workers faced the same challenges as so many other Òrecovered factoriesÓ: they had legal control of a viable factory but no working capital for raw materials. They had orders from confident buyers but no way to fill them.
The absence of credit might have made sense in the context of Argentina's battered economy, but it makes no business sense whatsoever. Able workers plus demand for a product should equal productive work.
WW:La Base provided the Ceres workers with a small loan of less than one thousand dollars to buy the materials needed to complete the best order they had received in a long time - a project that, once completed, will hopefully lead to many more. After paying all the costs of production and paying back the loan, this project will leave them with enough money to buy raw materials for another project of the same size. Or if they need a larger loan to meet growing market demand or facilitate their own growth, we'll be there. At Ceres, it is easy to see how a modest investment, combined with a determined struggle and a spirit of cooperation, can lift a small group of workers out of the poverty and powerlessness that is too often the lot of the global seamstress.
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