A sweatshop in Los Angeles, California. Photo: daveblume(flickr)

The term "sweatshop" is often associated with humid and cramped factories, where wages are usually low and conditions are harsh. Now, one company is making a name for itself by making these work areas a little less "sweaty". The New York Times recently profiled a company that is promising to pay workers a living wage on top of offering better working conditions.

Workers employed by Knights Apparel in factories all over the world are guaranteed just treatment. In addition to getting higher than living wage salaries — which for some more than triple the minimum wage — they can join unions and work in a comfortable space. The president of Knights spent more than $500,000 to renovate one factory in the Dominican Republic for its workers, according to the Times article. He “called for bright lighting, five sewing lines and pricey ergonomic chairs, which many seamstresses thought were for the managers.”

These conditions, though, come at a high (and risky) cost for the company, which must compete against other cheaper apparel companies that offer less to their workers. T-shirts sold wholesale by the company cost about 20 percent more than those sold by a company that pays workers minimum wage. And that doesn't include retail markups.

Knights Apparel may have an advantage, though. It works with a group called the Worker Rights Consortium that pushes college-logo apparel companies to treat workers justly. Barnes and Nobles College Booksellers will promote Knights widely on colleges across the country. Though the company is still unknown, workers' rights issues are familiar on college campuses. The company couldn't have found a better match.

The company has also gotten the attention of Nike, which says it will watch the campaign closely. As for the workers of Knights Apparel, their lives have changed drastically. One woman using her salary to build a house for her family says, "I feel blessed". Another tells The New York Times that the difference between the new factory and others is "heaven and earth".