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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 693-4650
The U.S. Labor Department's latest survey of labor standards compliance
in garment shops in New York City shows how entrenched labor violations are,
but tougher enforcement by the Labor Department led to the arrests yesterday of
two garment shop operators, charged with providing false statements to federal
investigators.
In its recent compliance survey, the department found that just as many
sewing shops violate labor laws by underpaying workers as first found two years
ago. But the survey also shows that contractor shops that are monitored by
manufacturers or that were investigated previously are more likely to be in
full compliance with the minimum wage, overtime and child labor laws.
Compliance also was higher in shops that were in business two or more years.
"There is no improvement since the last time we measured," Labor
Secretary Alexis M. Herman said. "We found that only 35 percent of the 93 shops
we checked followed labor laws. It's disappointing, but the survey also tells
us what does work to get better compliance."
Secretary Herman said the arrests, which resulted from investigations by
the Wage and Hour Division and the Inspector General of the Labor Department
and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District in New York, "show how
serious we are about changing the working conditions for garment workers."
The two arrested were Wei Jan Pan of MYS Fashion, 217 Centre St. and
Yoke Lian Ng of Lucky Day Fashion, 91 East Broadway. More arrests will follow.
The complaints allege that they lied to investigators about under-payments to
employees, cash payments and their records of wages paid and hours worked. The
investigation was conducted as part of the Worker Exploitation Task Force, a
joint effort of the Labor and Justice Departments to investigate serious
instances of worker exploitation and abuse.
The Labor Department has been conducting a multi-pronged "No Sweat"
campaign to attack the common practice in the garment industry of underpaying
workers, many of whom are immigrants afraid to complain. One part of the
strategy has been to encourage manufacturers to monitor labor compliance by the
contractors who make clothes for them. The department's surveys in New York and
California show that contractors that are monitored are less likely to underpay
workers. And the stricter the monitoring, the better the compliance.
In the New York City survey, 48 percent of monitored shops complied with
labor laws, compared to 33 percent of those that were not monitored. A 1998
survey in the Los Angeles area found that 56 percent of strictly monitored
shops were in compliance.
The department defines monitoring to include reviewing payroll records,
reviewing time cards, interviewing employees, providing the contractor with
information, advising the contractor about compliance problems, recommending
corrective action and making unannounced visits.
"It's clear that we have to do more, but it's also clear what we have to
do," Secretary Herman said. "We have to engage retailers in helping to solve
the problem, keep the pressure on manufacturers to do stricter monitoring,
educate new contractors about the law when they open for business and educate
workers about their rights including their right to complain. We will continue
to concentrate investigations in the garment industry to the full extent that
our resources allow. And we will continue to make criminal referrals when we
find conditions that warrant it."
The Labor Department found nearly $815,065 in back wages due 1,621
workers in the shops surveyed. There were no child labor violations. This is
the first New York City garment survey that obtained information about the
effects of monitoring by manufacturers.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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