U.S. Singles Out Big Retailers on Clothing Sales : Labor: J.C. Penney, Macy’s among those rebuked for links to alleged sweatshops, including a Los Angeles knitwear firm.

In a new salvo against labor law abuses in the apparel-manufacturing industry, the Labor Department rebuked several major retailers Monday, including J.C. Penney Co. and Macy’s, that have been selling merchandise produced at three alleged sweatshops.

One of the three is a south Los Angeles knitwear firm--known alternately as Chums Casual, Chums Knitwear and Stephen K. Corp.--cited by the Labor Department on charges of violating minimum wage and overtime pay laws.

Investigators said some of the firm’s 72 workers made as little as $3.10 an hour, well below the legal minimum of $4.25, while working as many as 55 hours a week.

Separately, the California labor commissioner’s office said it will seek a court order today to shut down Chums for allegedly operating without a license.

Company President Sang Bong Kang said he is not aware of any labor law violations by his firm. He said he settled the federal complaint mainly because he lacked adequate records to disprove the allegations. He said his company did not admit to any wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

The Labor Department’s rebuke of such well-known firms as J.C. Penney and Macy’s marked a rare use of public criticism against individual retailers to goad them into joining the agency’s campaign against apparel sweatshops.

The department has been asking retailers as well as manufacturers to monitor the workplace practices of their suppliers in hopes of pushing rogue firms out of the industry. The government has also publicized the names of retailers it thinks are doing a good job.

One of the few other times that federal officials took a similar tack was after authorities last year discovered the now-infamous garment plant in El Monte where more than 70 Thai nationals worked under slave-like conditions. At that time, the government named more than 40 firms, including Macy’s, that may have received goods from the El Monte shop.

Although he was not accusing the retailers named Monday of breaking federal laws, U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich said their help is needed to augment the thin ranks of government inspectors in fighting sweatshop abuses.

“Government simply cannot do it all,” he said. “This is a widespread problem. All of the evidence suggests it’s not going away, and we must get the cooperation of major manufacturers and retailers.”

Labor Department officials singled out J.C. Penney for particular criticism, saying that it was notified four times in less than a year that it was receiving merchandise made in violation of minimum wage and overtime law.

In a prepared statement from its headquarters in suburban Dallas, J.C. Penney said it was “perplexed” by the government’s comments.

“The company has an effective supplier legal compliance program and, despite billions of dollars of annual purchases from thousands of U.S. suppliers, is aware of only a few instances in which its suppliers or their contractors have been charged with labor law violations,” the company’s statement added.

Federated Department Stores, parent of Macy’s, said it had no comment. The company’s New York-based Macy’s East division was said by the government to have received goods made by Chums in Los Angeles.

Among the other retailers named as receiving merchandise from Chums or one of the two other apparel plants branded “repeat or willful” labor law violators were a pair of women’s clothiers: San Diego-based Charlotte Russe and Hingham, Mass.-based Talbot’s.

Executives at Charlotte Russe could not be reached. Talbot’s said that its supplier cited by the federal government has hired an independent auditing firm to more closely monitor conditions under which its garments are made.

With regard to Chums, federal officials said they were upset that abuses persisted at the firm despite a “conciliation” meeting 13 months ago between the agency and the company triggered by an individual employee’s complaint.

Rolene Otero, the Labor Department’s wage and hour division chief in Los Angeles, said Kang, Chums’ president and founder, “basically intended to keep violating the law until he got caught, that’s the attitude that we have to change.”

She said Kang settled with the government two weeks ago by providing $80,000 in back pay to 72 workers and by paying $12,240 in related fines for repeat violations.

But the 5-year-old firm, which produces casual knit tops at its plant on Avalon Boulevard, is also under fire from state authorities. Jose Millan, assistant state labor commissioner, said he will seek a court order to close the company because it has operated without a valid license since March 15, when its previous state license expired.

Millan said the firm applied for a new license from his agency, but has thus far been denied one. Millan said he could not disclose the reason for the denial, other than that it was related to a matter currently under investigation by the state.

Meanwhile, Cal OSHA said it notified the firm Monday that it will seek $20,420 in fines for alleged health and safety violations. Authorities said the charges include six serious violations, among them: a locked emergency exit, exposed live wiring and no safety guards on sewing machines. Other violations dealt with such sanitation problems as not having water, soap or hand towels for employees.

Kang, who also is known by the first name of Stephen, said he agrees in principle with regulators’ efforts to crack down on illegal sweatshops.

But, he said, “I cannot agree with how the [labor] department determines what is wrong and the size of the fine.” Kang also expressed annoyance over the publicity surrounding his company’s settlement.

“Agencies are finding violations every day,” he said. “Why did they make a big deal about this? Is it because we supply big department stores?”