Stitching Up an Old Wound : Unprecedented accord seeks to curb abuse of garment workers

With its vast pool of unskilled labor, Southern California has a garment industry that is second only to New York’s. It also has sweatshops, long a problem within the industry. Now, in cracking down on abuses in the region, the U.S. Labor Department is taking a new approach to protect the often-exploited garment worker.

In an unprecedented move, the federal government is holding an apparel manufacturer directly accountable for the working conditions and wages of workers who sew its garments but are actually employed by independent contractors.

The Labor Department reached a voluntary compliance program agreement with Guess? Inc., the well-known maker of jeans, to settle alleged labor law violations by the firm’s estimated 100 contractors.

Guess? agreed to make sure that its contractors abide by federal labor standards by regularly inspecting contractors’ workshops and by reviewing their payroll records. The action aims at helping protect sewing machine operators from illegal exploitation.

In investigating Guess?, the Labor Department continued its use of a 54-year-old provision of the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act. It prohibits, among other things, the interstate transportation of goods made at companies that violate minimum wage, overtime pay or child labor laws. In 1989 the agency turned to the 1938 statute to get at the Los Angeles manufacturers that used Orange County sweatshops.

In Southern California, more than 35% of the garment workers are paid less than the minimum wage, which is $4.25 per hour. The proportion denied pay for overtime work is greater. Even worse is that 7% of U.S. apparel contractors are using illegal child labor. The Labor Department’s dogged pursuit of violators should help curb such abuses, which have long eluded authorities because of the fragmented nature of the garment business.