Garment Workers Tell Labor Panel of Abysmal Conditions

They wanted someone to know--about marathon days spent in cramped, windowless lofts and storefronts, working for wages often below the legal minimum and without health insurance.

“We are honest workers, looking to support our families, but we are treated unjustly,” said Juan Canto, an 8-year veteran in the Los Angeles underworld of garment sweatshops. “People should imagine us in these buildings as they drive by.”

Canto and others in this massive but virtually invisible work force made their voices heard at an unusual hearing last week in a church hall in downtown Los Angeles.

Federal and state labor authorities attended, along with state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles). But this was not another dreary legislative inquiry.

Workers themselves called for the hearing to dramatize the plight of laborers. They say they are anxious for greater government oversight.

“Workers can be labor officials’ greatest allies, but officials tend not to reach out to them,” noted Julie Su, an attorney with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, who helped organize the event, sponsored by the Coalition for Garment Workers.

The garment industry is one of Southern California’s biggest manufacturing businesses, employing more than 100,000 people--mostly immigrants from Latin America and Asia. The Los Angeles area now hosts the nation’s largest and most dynamic garment industry, having eclipsed New York some years ago.

Manufacturers, who did not send any representatives to the hearing, acknowledge abuses. But they contend these are confined to mostly unregistered shops operated by unscrupulous entrepreneurs. These bad apples, say industry representatives, sully the reputation of the many honest business operators who treat their workers fairly.

Referring to complaints aired at the hearing, Ilse Metchek, executive director of the California Fashion Assn., said, “What they are talking about are aberrations. To imply that the entire industry is rife with the kind of situation they are talking about is ridiculous.”

But the workers say otherwise.

May Toy, who emigrated from Hong Kong in 1969, said she worked for 28 years in many factories, until she became disabled from the work. She said piece rates--the way most workers are paid--have fallen for the past decade.

“Every day of the week, we work more than 10 hours a day,” Toy told the hearing. “We rarely get to rest. Because of this, our health deteriorates. But we continue to work nonetheless.”

The plight of garment workers is often difficult to see, say employees. Manufacturers often subcontract work to thousands of small sewing shops.

In Los Angeles, the bulk of the work force toils in small contract facilities, often tucked away in office structures downtown or behind storefronts and in back rooms in other parts of the city. Many garments for prestigious labels are made locally.

Business owners face their own pressures. Profit margins are often razor-thin, and overseas competition--especially from Asia and Latin America--keeps wages low. One reason Los Angeles firms have thrived is because of the city’s supply of immigrant laborers willing to work for minimum and near-minimum wage.

More than 100 workers attended the hearing last Wednesday, including several Thai employees who were rescued in 1995 by state and federal authorities from slave-like conditions in an El Monte sweatshop.

Workers say such abuse is pervasive throughout the industry--at shops big and small--and not just in extreme cases such as in El Monte. They describe a sense of desperation.

“I know some women who are just at the breaking point,” said Enriqueta Soto, 38, who has spent almost 20 years working in garment shops. “We are anxious for the authorities to come in and see the way we must work.”

In particular, Soto said, she worries about the future of her two children, ages 9 and 17. Her teenage daughter wants to go to college, Soto said, but there is no money.

“Whatever else, I don’t want her to work in the factories,” Soto said. “I want her to have a future.”

Many complained of bosses who cheated them, paying them with bad checks or not paying them at all. A common complaint is that shops go out of business owing workers wages.

State and federal officials voiced sympathy and vowed to look into individual complaints. But regulators say the task is overwhelming. The state labor commissioner’s office, for instance, has about 25 investigators to look into violations throughout the region. They also are responsible for policing other industries, including agriculture and restaurants.

Still, officials agreed that the unusual session provided some firsthand insights.

“It’s somewhat motivational when you see what workers are going through,” said Jerry Hall, district director in East Los Angeles for the U.S. Labor Department’s wage and hour division. “And if we don’t have workers reporting abuses, it doesn’t help us or them. It’s important for workers to speak up.”