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American Apparel starts laying off 2,400 workers in Southern California

American Apparel began laying off 2,400 Southern California workers on Monday.
American Apparel began laying off 2,400 Southern California workers on Monday.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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American Apparel began to lay off 2,400 workers in Southern California on Monday — kicking off its final chapter as the country’s largest garment maker.

Layoffs will continue through the rest of the week and affect workers on the manufacturing and production side, American Apparel said. The company has about 3,500 factory workers in the Southland.

Canadian clothing maker Gildan Activewear won an auction in bankruptcy court last week to buy the American Apparel brand and some manufacturing equipment for $88 million. The company will not assume American Apparel’s leases on its factories.

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Until the sale closes in February, some workers are being kept on to operate the factories in downtown Los Angeles and in Garden Grove, as well as the distribution center in La Mirada. Some will also continue working in human resources and other departments to keep the company running. American Apparel’s 110 stores and its website will remain open, until at least April, under a 100-day license with Gildan.

On Monday, workers at the company’s headquarters in downtown Los Angeles said they were shocked even though they had been warned in December there might be mass layoffs. Many said they had hoped Gildan or another company would come in and save jobs.

Francesca Cortes, a seamstress who works on the overnight shift, said she was told to come into work on Monday for a possible shift change. Instead of a new schedule, she got her final paycheck and a termination letter.

“Everything is over,” said Cortes, 48, who has worked seven years at American Apparel. “We didn’t even get severance, like the workers who were laid off before got.”

Everything is over. We didn’t even get severance, like the workers who were laid off before got.

— Francesca Cortes, seamstress

Still, Cortes said she hopes she can land another job soon. Her husband, a seamster for another local garment maker, is still employed — so the family is alright financially for now, she said.

Some workers, such as Amada Cervantes, are not so lucky. The 66-year-old, who has worked sewing in downtown L.A. for a decade, lives by herself and has no family to lean on. In the last few years, her pay has dropped to about $350 a week from $500 as workers’ hours have been cut.

“This is big for me,” Cervantes said. “I’m worried because I am on my own. I’m hoping unemployment will help until I find another job.”

American Apparel did find a buyer for its Garden Grove knitting and dyeing facility. Broncs Inc., a Compton textile manufacturer, said it would take over the lease starting March for between $200,000 to $250,000.

American Apparel said Monday that the sale could save more than 300 jobs. However, Broncs owner Joel Chun told The Times that he plans to hire about 200 employees. The earliest they could start work is in March, when new machines are delivered, he said.

For its part, Gildan said it has yet to decide where to make American Apparel goods. The company makes the bulk of its products in manufacturing hubs in Central America and the Caribbean. Although it has some production sites in the U.S., the only finished goods made here are socks.

Gildan spokesman Garry Bell said Monday that the layoffs are a result of the American Apparel bankruptcy.

“Our agreement with them was always for assets, including the brand and some manufacturing equipment,” Bell wrote in an email. “It was never to purchase an ongoing concern.”

Follow Shan on Twitter @ByShanLi

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