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The Stories of two DKNY Factory Workers
The stories of Kwan Lai and Lilia Gutierrez tell us a lot
about what it means to be a working woman in the United States
today. For years these two women sat bent hour after hour
sewing thousand-dollar Donna Karan clothing, worn by Hollywood
stars and first ladies. They worked days, evenings and even
Saturdays. They never received overtime pay.
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Lilia Gutierrez's story:
"I worked at Eastpoint factory for eight years making Donna
Karan jackets with price tags of $6,000. It took a whole day
to make one. We Latina workers were the only ones working by
hand. They said we would break the machines. They barely paid
above minimum wage and did not pay overtime. Working by hand
is much harder, but they paid Chinese workers who were using
machines more anyway. |
If we raised our heads, they would tell us through the speakerphone,
"No talking, work." The toilet used to break. They would blame
us, saying Latinas break everything. Before we left for the
day, they would frisk us.
When my first daughter was three months old they said I had
to work late or not work at all. My babysitter couldn't be with
my child all day. But I was a single mother and so I had to
tolerate this. When I was pregnant with my second child, the
supervisor said, "No more doctor's appointments, or no more
work." I left the job for a year and a half. When I came back
they forced me to work overtime without overtime pay again.
I had to pay the babysitter for the extra hours. I paid her
$120 out of the $250 I was making a week. |
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worked 10, 11 hours a day, six days a week. I woke up at 5:30
in the morning to get my kids ready for school. Sometimes I
sent them without breakfast. I left at 7 and came back at 8
or 9 at night. I would pick up my kids, make dinner and prepare
for the next day. All I did was work.
One day I heard that someone complained against the boss. Somebody
called one of us Latinas to ask if we would join her. We were
afraid. When she got her job back, we found out it was Mrs.
Lai. They said not to eat near her because the boss would think
we were on her side. I felt very sad seeing her eating alone.
One day the factory closed. The boss said she couldn't continue
with the business. Some Chinese workers were blaming Mrs. Lai.
Then NMASS called and invited me to meet with her. We were suspicious
and afraid. I didn't have a job. Would we get blacklisted? Talking
with Mrs. Lai changed my mind. I wasn't afraid anymore. Me and
six Latina co-workers joined her. I knew wherever I would go,
conditions would be the same. We decided to demand our jobs
back.”
– Lilia Gutierrez |
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Kwan Lai's story:
 “I
started working at a factory making DKNY clothing in May 1992.
Like most Chinatown factories, this mid-town factory was unionized.
But unlike Chinatown factories, we were paid by the hour instead
of by the piece. But it felt like being in prison. If we were
two minutes late we were docked one half-hour of our pay. We
had to keep our heads down at all times once we started working.
No looking up. No talking to anyone. Can you imagine? A big
room with rows and rows of machines and all of us, looking down.
Three surveillance cameras watched everything we did. They checked
our purses before we left at the end of the day. No going to
the bathroom — it was often padlocked. No water, with
the drinking fountain broken. No making or receiving phone calls,
not even for emergencies. All those years I never gave out my
factory number to anyone except my husband. One time my daughter
Winnie was sick. Her father called me because he needed to ask
where our insurance card was. He called three times and the
boss kept hanging up on him. The third time, my husband said,
‘If you don't let me talk to her, I'll sue you’.
(Mrs. Lai's daughter Jennifer, aged 7, adds that: ‘The
boss is mean. When I'm sick and throwing up, she doesn't let
my mommy come home to take care of me’). |
Why did I stay there if it was so bad? Well, I have to think
about my two small children, Winnie and Jennifer. They are 11
and 7. It takes so much to raise them. Coming from Hong Kong,
I had no idea working conditions could be so bad in the U.S.
It's worse than being a slave! And I barely had any time to
spend with my daughters.
Now, most important, I want to go back to work. If I go back
to work, I can watch the boss. She cant' break the law again
if she knows I am watching. Other workers in the community will
see that I fought for my rights, won my job back and got my
money back too. They will see that you don't have to be afraid
of going after what you deserve. |
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– Kwan Lai
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