September Newsletter
A Month of Events and Marches:
Supporting Garment Workers Each
Step of the Way
Buy Your Values UCLA is teaming up with the Garment Worker Center to support
workers, and trying to build our campaign here at UCLA
September 2021 Edition
Buy Your Values is a collective of UCLA students who want our bookstore and our merchandise
offered by our campus clubs to reflect our values by supporting ethical and sustainable apparel
and other merchandise. We are working with other student organizations at UCLA and across
the country that are interested in similar work. To learn more about our movement, click here.
SAVE THE DATE: the Garment Worker Center invites all of you to One Day Without Garment
Workers, a march in solidarity with garment workers, this Wednesday, September 29 th , at
8:45am at the SouthEast corner of Olympic and Main in Downtown LA. Let us know if you’re a
student and you’re planning on coming to this event. We as Buy Your Values are attempting to
organize a small contingent of students to ride there and back together. Email
jgrodriguez99@g.ucla.edu if you want to coordinate a plan to go together!
If you have further questions, please consider coming to a coordinating call together on 9/27 at
5pm PST. Open to all students considering attending the march. Register for the call at
tinyurl.com/StudentsSupportSB62.
Given the unique role of students, and especially the prestige that comes with being a student at
UCLA, it is extremely crucial that students come out in support of movements. UCLA has
historically had a lot of influence over the politics of Los Angeles, with a recent example being
the important work of the UCLA Labor Center on the Clean Car Wash Campaign. This time is
no different. That’s why it is vital that people show up to support SB62, the Garment Worker
Protection Act (http://garmentworkeract.org). In the last few weeks, the bill passed the Assembly
floor, a monumental win already. But more and more California politicians have come out in
support, including the California Democratic Party delegates for Assembly District 51, as well as
LA City Council, both passing resolutions in support of SB62. It’s on Governor Newsom’s desk
now, so it’s more important than ever to show our support!
Check out our socials:
● @buyyourvaluesucla on IG
● @BuyYourValuesUCLA on Facebook
● @ValuesatUCLA on Twitter
● Our website buyyourvaluesucla.org
Email us at jgrodriguez99@g.ucla.edu if your club is interested in a presentation explaining the
structure of ASUCLA Licensing, the garment industry, or the work of Buy Your Values. We want
to build connections and community with any and all interested organizations.
Our progress to date:
● Workshop: Dec. 7, 2020 - We facilitated a workshop with over 70 attendees featuring
different ethical clothing manufacturers and distributors such as Alta Gracia, Ethix
Merch, and Carolina Textile District to discuss the importance of supporting workers’
rights and worker democracy at the factory level.
● Presentation: March 12, 2021 - We presented to the ASUCLA Board of Directors
Services Committee about a pilot program proposal to support ethical brands. We got
the green light to proceed in talks with the ASUCLA bookstore.
● Survey: Gathered over 150 responses to our student-purchasing-practices survey that
showed, among other things, the importance of aesthetics and cost when buying
clothes.
● Bookstore: Met with ASUCLA bookstore management multiple times and presented a
pilot program to get $10,000 worth of ethically produced merchandise into the store by
Fall 2021. We will scale up the program as we are successful.
● Panels: May 15, 2021 - We partnered with the Garment Worker Center, UCLA Labor
Center, Student Labor Advocacy Project, Unravel, Refine LA, FAST at UCLA, and
United Students Against Sweatshops to talk about worker justice and its necessary
intersections with sustainability, immigrant justice, and other movements. The event also
sought to create connections between student orgs and community orgs, for the
Garment Worker Center’s campaign for SB 62, the Garment Worker Protection Act
(petition link here).
● Creating Demand: Now the hard work begins. Creating consumer and student demand
for socially responsible merchandise where workers are lifted up and their communities
made stronger with good jobs and support a living environment. We can do this! Will you
join us here?
Thank you for reading this far. Again, sign up here on our website for our e-newsletter and email
us for a presentation to your group at jgrodriguez99@g.ucla.edu. We’ll show you how easy it is
to Buy Your Values!
In solidarity,
Buy Your Values UCLA