California’s Workers’-Rights Push Threatens What’s Left of ‘Made in the USA’ Fashion
A year-old state law is accelerating an exodus from Los Angeles, one of the remaining US hubs of apparel manufacturing.
Worker at American Apparel Inc. in Los Angeles, 2008.
Photographer: Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
Los Angeles has long been the country’s premier hub for garment manufacturing, churning out T-shirts, swimwear and dresses for fashion brands around the world. But a combination of new labor legislation and rising costs is threatening the future of “Made in the USA” clothing.
California’s Garment Worker Protection Act is a year-old law that takes aim at the industry practice of paying workers a piece rate, rather than an hourly wage, which often results in them earning less than the minimum wage. It also renders fashion brands liable for labor abuses across their supply chains. Similar bills are under consideration in New York state and in the US Congress.