Opinion: We know which companies sell clothes made by sweatshop workers. Consumers should shop accordingly

To the editor: To think that in California, one of the most progressive states, there are still apparel makers that pay sweatshop wages to their workers — when I believed that by raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022, Californians were doing the right thing — is heartbreaking. (“Behind a $13 shirt, a $6-an-hour worker,” Sept. 1)

As I stewed in disbelief and embarrassment after reading The Times’ report, I jotted down the names of the companies that purchased and sold these garments. Maybe my business wasn’t that important to them, but I will certainly boycott and spread the word to my friends not to buy from Forever 21, Ross Dress for Less and TJ Maxx until they pay back wages to the workers demanding the minimum wage owed to them.

In the meantime, I will look for the label and purchase items from the company started by Dov Charney, Los Angeles Apparel, which pays workers $15 an hour. I hope The Times will continue to inform its readers of which companies are doing the wrong and right things morally and legally.

Barbara Azrialy, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Kudos to The Times for a brilliant expose of the plight of garment workers. The public now knows that these sweatshops exist and persist.

The onus now lies on us, the consumers, to hold the retailers responsible for this egregious violation of human rights. We need to boycott their businesses, write to the CEOs and the California Retailers Assn., and insist that all workers be paid a living wage.

We consumers also need to be willing to pay an appropriate price for our clothes.

Lynda Obershaw, Pasadena

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To the editor: Any discussion of who is responsible for underpaid workers in the garment industry should include the subject of executive compensation.

According to Morningstar, the total compensation for the five key executives at Ross Stores Inc. in 2016 was about $35 million. If these executives were paid less, Ross could afford to pay its contractors more, and the contractors could afford to pay their workers more.

Excessive executive compensation is unfair, immoral and bad for business.

Mary Bomba, Los Angeles

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