Garment Industry Labor Relations

Twelve Los Angeles garment workers are suing XOXO Clothing Co. for back wages and damages, claiming a contractor hired by XOXO to sew apparel for the popular young women's clothing label stiffed them for six weeks' wages. The suit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles claims Commerce-based XOXO has repeatedly violated federal labor standards by hiring contractors who flout wage-and-hour laws.

Kimi Lee and her co-workers have no illusions about the obstacles they face. From an office in the garment district, she and two other anti-sweatshop organizers are taking on L.A.'s multibillion-dollar garment industry. They are trying to improve the treatment of the overwhelmingly immigrant and female work force toiling in thousands of sewing lofts, storefronts and hidden factories concentrated on the southeast end of downtown.

The stories were numbingly familiar to Legal Aid Foundation lawyers. Central Los Angeles garment workers like Jorge Posada told of being paid $1 or $2 an hour, of working 70 hours a week without overtime, of having two weeks' salary being withheld as a never-to-be-repaid "loan" to the company and of being fired if they complained. Conventional lawsuits seeking back wages on behalf of individual garment workers have rarely been effective.

Twelve Los Angeles garment workers are suing XOXO Clothing Co. for back wages and damages, claiming a contractor hired by XOXO to sew apparel for the popular young women's clothing label stiffed them for six weeks' wages. The suit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles claims Commerce-based XOXO has repeatedly violated federal labor standards by hiring contractors who flout wage-and-hour laws.

David Young, 38, the apparel industry labor leader directing the union-organizing campaign at Los Angeles jeans maker Guess Inc., has resigned. No replacement was named by the union, which is called Unite. Young, who was with Unite and one of its predecessor organizations 11 years, said he quit "because of the failure of the union to provide the promised support and resources for the Guess campaign." He declined to elaborate.

Trinity Knitworks didn't start out a sweatshop. The Los Angeles garment factory with a decades-long history of fair employment was reopened in 1996 amid hope and great fanfare, thanks to a growing economy and a high-profile government loan to its new owners. But even a loyal work force and a host of such blue-chip clients as the Walt Disney Co. and Tommy Hilfiger could not save the company. Trinity folded last month, crushed by mounting debts, foreign competition and lagging sales.

A Vernon garment manufacturer has accepted responsibility for the alleged wage violations of one of its former sewing contractors in what civil rights attorneys described as a landmark settlement. US Boys, which manufactures sportswear, agreed to pay $200,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by nine employees of a now-defunct outfit known as ASC Fashion.

Joined by Labor Secretary Alexis Herman, a group representing about 400 "socially responsible" investment firms on Monday vowed to use their clout to pressure clothing manufacturers and retailers into taking a tougher stand against apparel industry sweatshops.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that 23 garment workers in Saipan who anonymously sued several clothing manufacturers can continue to use pseudonyms because of potential retaliation. Saipan is a U.S. territory with a thriving garment industry.

The apparel union UNITE withdrew from a White House task force on sweatshops, calling the panel's recent recommendations inadequate. The union said it severed its ties because the panel failed to call for a "living wage"--pay that reflects the cost of living--for apparel workers. The task force plans to create a nonprofit agency that would monitor the labor sites of apparel companies around the world, but UNITE said the plan's inspection mechanism is inadequate.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that 23 garment workers in Saipan who anonymously sued several clothing manufacturers can continue to use pseudonyms because of potential retaliation. Saipan is a U.S. territory with a thriving garment industry.

Sweatshops in Central America produce garments for TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford's clothing label, a labor rights group charged Tuesday, eliciting a swift offer from Gifford's representatives to help put a halt to the alleged abuses. The National Labor Committee said two workers were fired this month and a union organizer received death threats after questioning working conditions in the Caribbean Apparel factory in the American Park free-trade zone in Santa Ana, El Salvador.

Trinity Knitworks didn't start out a sweatshop. The Los Angeles garment factory with a decades-long history of fair employment was reopened in 1996 amid hope and great fanfare, thanks to a growing economy and a high-profile government loan to its new owners. But even a loyal work force and a host of such blue-chip clients as the Walt Disney Co. and Tommy Hilfiger could not save the company. Trinity folded last month, crushed by mounting debts, foreign competition and lagging sales.

A Vernon garment manufacturer has accepted responsibility for the alleged wage violations of one of its former sewing contractors in what civil rights attorneys described as a landmark settlement. US Boys, which manufactures sportswear, agreed to pay $200,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by nine employees of a now-defunct outfit known as ASC Fashion.

The National Labor Relations Board has concluded that Los Angeles-based Guess Inc. had legitimate business reasons for moving a large portion of its garment-sewing production from the U.S. to Mexico in August 1996. The labor board investigation was prompted by claims that Guess moved the production in response to an apparel union's efforts to organize Guess work sites. The Union of Needletrades, Industrial & Textile Employees was not available for comment.

The apparel union UNITE withdrew from a White House task force on sweatshops, calling the panel's recent recommendations inadequate. The union said it severed its ties because the panel failed to call for a "living wage"--pay that reflects the cost of living--for apparel workers. The task force plans to create a nonprofit agency that would monitor the labor sites of apparel companies around the world, but UNITE said the plan's inspection mechanism is inadequate.

More than 300 Guess employees and other garment workers took to Los Angeles streets Wednesday protesting efforts to unionize local manufacturing employees. Clapping their hands and shouting "No union! Leave us alone!" the workers marched from Guess headquarters at 1444 S. Alameda St. to the nearby offices of UNITE, a textile and garment union attempting to organize the factory employees. Guess employs about 1,300 people in Los Angeles.

Boycott of Jessica McClintock Ends: A pledge by the San Francisco-based clothing company to help promote fair labor practices prompted the garment workers group Asian Immigrant Women Advocates to call off its 3-year-old consumer boycott. "The agreement signifies an important milestone in efforts to establish cooperative relationships among all levels of industry," Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich said. The boycott began after subcontractor Lucky Sewing Co.

A strike closed down the Belgian units of blue-jeans giant Levi Strauss & Co. after the company earlier this week said three plants there would be eliminated as part of a European restructuring plan. Company officials said production facilities in Belgium and France were singled out because of high labor costs and overcapacity. Unions said they would keep the factories closed for the rest of the week to protest the expected loss of about 1,000 jobs in Belgium.

They wanted someone to know--about marathon days spent in cramped, windowless lofts and storefronts, working for wages often below the legal minimum and without health insurance. "We are honest workers, looking to support our families, but we are treated unjustly," said Juan Canto, an 8-year veteran in the Los Angeles underworld of garment sweatshops. "People should imagine us in these buildings as they drive by."