Looking Back 10 Years

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Joe Rodriguez


Executive Director

Garment Contractors Association of Southern

California


There were bad apples then and there are now. I don’t think percentages have changed appreciably. El Monte that was an extreme aberration. You’re not going to find that again. The state government said in no uncertain terms that their emphasis was finding the most blatant (labor law) violators, not the nickel-and-dime stuff. Back in the El Monte situation and today, they say it, but they don’t do it. When they send out teams of people to conduct raids, they may have found some contractors who are blatant and unregistered, so that’s good, I’ll give them that. But they shouldn’t keep digging at a shop until they find something. They should need some kind of probable cause.



Kimi Lee



Director

Garment Worker Center


I don’t think conditions have improved. Things are the same, if not worse. The Labor Department data shows improvement, but that’s only among registered contractors. Two thirds of them violate wage and hour rules and three quarters violate health and safety rules. So it’s going to be even worse with unregistered ones. Workers are still getting no overtime, terrible wages and no health protection. With the competition from globalization, even more contractors are shutting down, so they’re paying even lower wages, especially since the North American Free Trade Agreement. This new taskforce we don’t think it’s effective. It’s just a big media splash. A couple days after a raid, employers just get pushed underground further, and conditions are even worse, like operating all night. AB633 was a key solution, making companies that hire contractors responsible for paying the workers better, but they need to put more muscle behind it.



Ilse Metchek



Executive Director

California Fashion Association


There were no rules back then and there are now. There are clear guidelines. Any infraction is now quickly adjudicated. We’re not talking about sweatshops that word is a misnomer. Since El Monte happened, they’ve looked under every rock and corner and that’s never happened again. In this last raid, the violations found ranged from not having a current garment registration or no workers’ compensation; that’s not a sweatshop. Ten years ago violations would have been child labor, or people working 16-hour days, seven days a week. There’s a vast difference in the way workers are being handled. Not one instance of child labor was discovered.



Alejandra Domenzain



Associate Director

Sweatshop Watch


Not much has changed. There’s no doubt there are still lots of violations here in L.A. Those sweeps are generating good numbers. But there’s no follow-up, so companies that are shut down just open up again later. Often within the same factory, some people are getting paid properly and some are not. Many buildings have several shops in them. And unregistered shops often stay open for just a few months, sometimes for just one contract, then disappear, so it’s very difficult to catch them. But the root of the problem isn’t these contractors. A lot of them are immigrants also, with very little capital. Meaningful reform in the garment industry will come with applying the laws already in the books.

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