Needless Training

“Employment in L.A. Garment Trade Continues to Shrink” [Aug. 18] correctly identifies the dilemma facing L.A.’s sewing operators in the wake of NAFTA-driven production redistribution to Mexico: Piece rates are falling, steady work is hard to find, and a pronounced skills-and-education mismatch denies displaced operators a shot at the new NAFTA-generated jobs.

Industry leaders, buttressed by state funds, are pushing for new training programs for L.A.’s sewing operators. Why are we training welfare recipients and others for jobs in a manufacturing base that is hemorrhaging low-wage, labor-intensive work?

The answer is obvious. The industry wants to expand its shrinking pool of available sewing operators and, in doing so, keep their wages at the minimum.

Apparel manufacturers are well-served by this strategy. However, their workers would be better served by amnesty, along with the kind of training and education that would allow them to exit the miserable, low-wage, no-opportunity work of factory sewing and access better jobs in L.A.’s new economy.

JUDI A. KESSLER

Sociologist

Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies

UC San Diego