Sweatshop Makes Jeans Sold on U.S. Bases, Suit Says

A Nicaraguan garment factory that supplies discounted clothing to American soldiers imposes sweatshop conditions and starvation wages on its workers, a lawsuit filed Tuesday contends.

The lawsuit, filed by labor rights attorneys in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, seeks punitive damages against the Chentex factory and its Taiwan-based parent, Nien Hsing.

It contends that Nien Hsing pays workers less than 20 cents for each pair of blue jeans sewn. The jeans retail for $25 to $30, but workers receive what amounts to less than 30 cents an hour.

At a Tuesday news conference, a sweatshop watchdog group said the jeans are sold to American military personnel through the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, which supplies servicemen and women.

According to the National Labor Committee for Human Rights, the service imported 64 tons of blue jeans made at the Nicaraguan plant last July, August and September.

“This factory in Nicaragua actually presents the true face of the global economy,” said Charles Kernaghan, executive director of the group. “It’s one of oppression, starvation wages, mass firings, blacklisting, union busting and enormous corporate greed.”

Pentagon officials admit to doing business with the company, but they say they found no evidence of poor working conditions when a delegation visited the Chentex plant several weeks ago.

“We do business with them,” said Capt. Eric Hilliard, public affairs officer for the Army and Air Force Exchange Service. “We went down there, checked it out, and we saw that things were up to par.”

The Army and Air Force Exchange Service is one of the world’s largest retailers, operating 1,423 stores on U.S. military bases nationwide. It had $7.3 billion in sales last year.

Kernaghan said he uncovered the link to the Pentagon while reviewing the company’s sales documents. Several American department stores--including Kohl’s, Kmart, Wal-Mart, Target and J.C. Penney--also had contracts with the company.