Poorly Paid - Karla Henry

       I have been in downtown Los Angeles so many time, either for low cost clothing or to take pictures of what I believe amazing structural buildings. Many times have I said or wondered who lives or works in those old buildings?, Or who would want to accept a job to work there? Until I found out by one of my relatives that many of those buildings were used by the garment industry. That they hire undocumented immigrants for cheap labor, for very well known brands to make their clothes and then sell them in the market very expensively. Later he conclude by telling me that he knew this because he worked there for many years. 

I can say that from the outside some these buildings look very fancy and professional, some have very nicely art decorations and fancy restaurants. We could not imagine what really goes behind those walls where undocumented immigrant workers toil away with scissors, sewing machines and industrial irons for poverty-level wages for up to 12 hours a day.

These hidden industrial world is called Sweatshops. Sweatshops commonly don't have good reputation and are highly criticized for the poor work conditions they offer their employees. Almost one-fifth of the garment industry workers in Los Angeles are foreigners who have come from their country to escape from poverty looking for a better future. These undocumented immigrants end up in this unregulated, low wage and poorly work conditions.The LA times article says “they are forced to toil day and night fro less than two dollars an hour. They have to repay the cost of transporting them form a different country and yet their retentions still continues after that.” Many of these employers take advantage of the status and need of these people and offer what benefits them the most.  Years ago 72 Thai immigrants were found in a factory outside Los Angeles, they had been working for 20 hours a day to produce clothing. People that work in sweatshops are in a terrible situation. They most likely are not educated, they come from a poor family in a poor nation, and they have few skills that can help them provide for a family. They most likely have poor sanitation and health standards. If they have employment options, none of them are good; however, if they are choosing to work at a sweatshop, then we know that it is their best option, given their circumstances  which is individuals trafficked for forced labor. 

In the other hand the structural pyramid also takes a big role in this demand. The United States capitalist or should i say well know name brands, enjoy high success in the past years; creating new stores with great amounts of profits and their stock prices scale to their highest. Their newly found formula is to create an amazing brand for their customers, hire contractors that can make clothing for cheap labor and generate tremendous amounts of profit for these companies; and the workers who make the clothes that generate this wealth are suffering the Consequences everyday. They work long hours in sweatshop conditions for poverty wages, their lives and the futures o f their children sacrificed for U.S. retailers. Miriam Louie says in her research of “Immigrants Asian women in bay Area Garment Sweatshops”, the industry is like a pyramid, at the base contractors employ seamster, cutters, trimmers and pressers. Contractors compete with each other to win contracts from larger manufacturers, and are generally paid by the manufacturer until the order is complete and accepted. Contractors are legally responsible for any labor violation. Jobbers buy the material, give cut and uncut pieces to contractors, and tell contractors where to ship finished products. Manufactures design garments, determine the cost of material, labor and products well as retail prices and the profit margin. Many retailers buy these garments  adding a markup price averaging 31 percent which is passed along to the customer.

This pyramid has created a great deal of exploitation starting from the top to the bottom which mostly suffer the consequences of retailers who benefit and get great profits for poor labor. Sweatshops are a high profitable business for many retailers which make their business knowing the circumstances of these workers, but nevertheless don't care as long as they get their production done. Sweatshop and slavery in Los Angeles and many countries around the world is very real, and has recently become a global problem. I check my clothing label every time I buy a dress, shirt, or even my underwear; which is why a "Made in the U.S.A." label is no guarantee anymore.