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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: 202/219-7316
Recent Labor Department wage and hour division strike
forces in New York City and Los Angeles garment districts resulted in the
recovery of more than $ 230,000 in back wages for more than 600 employees. In
addition, the department contacted 112 manufacturers and notified two
California retailers regarding goods they received that were produced under
sweatshop conditions.
Last October, a Los Angeles area strike force involving 40
investigations found 25 contractor shops owing 473 garment workers $191,895 in
back wages for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). As a result,
the department's wage and hour division contacted 91 manufacturers to advise
them of the "hot goods" provisions of the FLSA and to request that they
voluntarily refrain from shipping the goods.
"The violations of basic labor rights in Los Angeles
continue to occur at far too high a rate," said Acting Labor Secretary Cynthia
Metzler. "We're going to continue to target our enforcement activity to firms
that ignore workers' rights to minimum wage and overtime. At the same time, we
will pursue our outreach efforts with manufacturers and retailers to educate
and encourage them to implement effective monitoring programs."
The manufacturers were also advised about monitoring their
contractor shops to ensure compliance with the FLSA. As a result of the October
sweep, several Los Angeles manufacturers, including Pacific Continental
Textile, Just for Wraps, and Tapestry signed the DOL compliance monitoring
agreement. The department contacted retailers Wet Seal and HUB Distributing to
advise them that goods produced for sale in their stores had been made in
violation of the FLSA and to request their cooperation. Both retailers report
they are now working with their vendors to improve compliance at contractor
shops and have begun compliance programs with their major vendors.
During November and December, investigations of nine
contractor shops in New York City found 150 employees owed $41,262 in back
wages. As a result of those investigations, 21 manufacturers were contacted. To
date, three manufacturers, Cynthia Rowley, Printmakers Int'l Ltd., and Turn On
Products have signed DOL's compliance monitoring agreement. No retailers were
contacted.
"These strike forces represent a historic point in our No
Sweat initiative, since these New York-based manufactures signed DOL compliance
monitoring agreements so quickly--and have now doubled the number of such
agreements we have in New York. This is an excellent first step for them, and
one we hope that other New York manufacturers will use as a model to follow,"
Metzler said. "Clearly, the momentum for this effort continues."
Firms signing compliance agreements with the department
stipulate that they will adopt monitoring procedures that will prevent future
violations at garment contracting shops. The firm's signing the agreement also
agree to accept financial liability for wages owed to workers should violations
be found in the future.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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