Guess Is Left Off 'Good Guy' List Pending Labor Inquiry

By STUART SILVERSTEIN

Nov. 28, 1996 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

For the first time ever, a Labor Department program to highlight apparel companies taking extra steps to shun sweatshops has instead singled out a business suspected of being a slacker: Los Angeles-based Guess Inc.

The department said Wednesday that it put Guess, the leading garment manufacturer in Southern California, on probationary status with the agency’s so-called Trendsetter List of “good guy” garment makers and retailers.

Guess said the censure is based on flawed government evaluations. But a union trying to organize the company’s workers, UNITE, said the news vindicates its complaints of labor abuses by Guess.

The disclosure also came as the Labor Department named 17 new companies to the year-old Trendsetter roster, an announcement timed to reach consumers before the beginning of the holiday shopping season.

Government officials hope the list will evolve into a strong publicity tool to prod apparel retailers and manufacturers into policing working conditions at the legion of contracting shops where their products are stitched.

Many retailers and garment makers privately say that so far, few shoppers have been taking the Trendsetter List into account when they head to the malls. But other industry observers contend that the sweatshop issue resonates with consumers, noting the uproar triggered this year when factories sewing clothing lines for TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford were discovered to be illegally underpaying workers.

The newly expanded Trendsetter roster has 31 apparel companies, including such giants and repeat members as Levi Strauss, the Gap, the Limited and Liz Claiborne. In all, the companies on the roster sell more than 115 lines of clothing and operate thousands of stores nationwide.

Guess is the only company from the previous Trendsetter List not to remain as a full-fledged member. The Los Angeles company was placed on probation pending a follow-up Labor Department review of up to 60 days.

When the review is completed, officials said, Guess could be removed from the list, reinstated on good terms or kept on probation.

Labor Department officials said Guess was placed on probation because its monitoring of contractors’ sewing shops was judged ineffective.

Maria Echaveste, head of the Labor Department’s wage and hour division, said the agency from mid-October to mid-November inspected 18 to 20 Southern California contracting shops that sew garments for Guess. The result: Four of the shops were found to be violating minimum wage and overtime requirements, and five other plants remain under investigation but are also believed to have illegally underpaid workers.

She said the agency investigated Guess after receiving complaints from UNITE, also known as the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees. Although those allegations--including charges that Guess monitors took bribes to overlook violations--remain under review, Echaveste said the government already has learned enough to place the company on probation.

“What we really want to be sure of is that the companies that we recognize are doing what they say they’re doing” to combat sweatshops, Echaveste said. She added that “we don’t intend to be used” by companies that falsely portray themselves as being vigilant.

But Glenn Weinman, Guess’ general counsel, replied that the company believes the government based its decision on miscalculations of the wages owed to workers at the contracting shops.

“To some extent, it’s like an IRS audit. You can disagree over things,” Weinman said. He added that no child labor or home work violations were uncovered by the federal investigators.

Separately, Weinman said Guess executives believe that they have reached a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board in connection with unfair labor practice allegations against the company. The NLRB had drafted a complaint that, among other things, Guess illegally fired 17 to 20 workers last summer because of their activities in support of a UNITE organizing campaign.

Under the tentative settlement, Weinman said, Guess would offer to reinstate all of the workers and provide them back pay totaling about $40,000.

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GARMENT GOOD GUYS

Here is the updated list of apparel manufacturers and retailers that the Labor Department believes are taking extra steps to avoid doing business with sweatshops.

Army Air Force Exchange Services (military exchanges)

Baby Superstores

C.I. Castro (makers of C.I. Castro, Jayne Copeland and Cookie Crunchers brands)

Carson Pirie Scott (department store chain)

Cee Sportswear

Chorus Line (brands include All That Jazz, Molly Malloy, Jazz Kids)

Gap (manufacturer and retailer whose chains include Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy Clothing Co.)

Gerber Childrenswear (Gerber and Curity brands)

Jerell Inc. (brands include Ali Myles and Stoneridge)

Jessica McClintock

Jones Apparel Group (retailer and marketer of lines such as Evan Picone, Rena Rowan and various Jones labels)

Kellwood Robert Scott/David Brooks Division and its DeCorp Division