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Apparel Industry Official Blasts Self-Regulatory Group: An agreement between the U.S. Labor Department and nine Los Angeles-area garment manufacturers to set up a self-regulatory consortium to root out sweatshops was criticized as a “Band-Aid” approach by a top industry official. Bernard Lax, president of the lobbying group Coalition of Apparel Industries of California, faulted the program for, among other things, failing to establish professional standards for the compliance officers to be hired to monitor workplace practices in garment sewing and cutting shops. But union leaders and some other industry officials have endorsed the consortium, known as the Los Angeles Compliance Alliance.