BOYCOTT LIBERTY APPAREL!
Liberty Workers Fight Back
| In 2001, 26 garment workers came
forward to demand Liberty Apparel take responsibility for
the sweatshop conditions they endured, including 14 hour work
days and $3 an hour wages with no overtime pay. The 80+ hour
workweeks were so grueling that many women were left with
no time to care for their own children and were forced to
send their babies back to China to be raised. |
| Says one Liberty worker who sent her son back, "I
wanted very much to take care of my son, but if I quit
work, there would be no way we could earn enough income
to survive … everytime I had a spare moment I would
end up thinking of him and crying." |
|
The workers have not been paid for four to eight
months of work.
Meanwhile, Liberty Apparel had its representatives visit
the factories regularly to check on the quality and to oversee
the
production of its clothing orders, even directly instructing the
workers and speeding them up. Liberty reps were aware that
workers were not getting paid and promised workers their pay if
they met Liberty's harsh production deadlines. Yet, by hiding
behind the subcontracting system, Liberty Apparel tried to deny
any responsibility for the conditions that they profited from
for years.
When a lower court ruled against the Liberty workers,
they appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Second Circuit. The workers led a rally in front of the courthouse,
drawing forth hundreds of workers in support as well as U.S. Congresswoman
Nydia Velasquez. Ms. Luo, a Liberty seamstress, spoke out, "Each
dollar has our blood, sweat, and tears all over it." As a
result of mounting pressure, the lower court decision was recently
overturned. Now the case is being sent back to the same lower
court judge that originally ruled against the Liberty workers.
It is critical that we organize now before the case is reheard
in the lower court this fall.
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in Crisis
In the past couple of decades-long before the Liberty case-garment
and other subcontracted workers in New York City have been successful
in using the FLSA and other labor laws to hold manufacturers (or
"general contractors") like DKNY, Streetbeat Sportswear,
Tracy Evans, Kathie Lee Gifford, and the City of New York accountable
for labor violations. Now the Liberty case threatens to reverse
the long-fought gains of workers' organizing and roll back this
already established interpretation of the FLSA law. Currently,
several cases, including a second group of Streetbeat workers, are waiting for the outcome of Liberty,
but more importantly, this case will impact working people throughout
the entire country.
The Impact of Zheng vs. Liberty
As more and more working people in the U.S. face the dismal reality
of overwork or underemployment, sweatshop conditions are no longer
a "Third World" or "immigrant" phenomenon.
Regardless of our race, immigration status, or trade, many of
us are working longer hours than ever for less wages with no control
over our time or our lives. Others are not able to find enough
work to make ends meet.
At the heart of these sweatshop conditions is the
subcontracting system. This system is encouraging manufacturers'
intention to violate the law and reap the greatest profits from
workers' suffering. Moreover, subcontracting is spreading well
beyond the garment trade to include more and more industries such
as construction, temp work, high tech office work, janitorial
and cleaning service, poultry, meat-packing, and home healthcare.
Women, immigrants, and people of color who are more often than
not working in subcontracted jobs are the hardest hit.
Join Us to Boycott Liberty and Eliminate Sweatshops
in the U.S.
Our worker-led boycott is an opportunity to bring together working
people, youth, women, and their organizations from diverse backgrounds
to fight against the rising tide of sweatshop conditions here
in this country. Together, we demand that manufacturers like Liberty
Apparel and DKNY be held accountable to their subcontracted workers,
and to demand that Liberty Apparel pay the unpaid wages and overtime
they owe to the workers.
