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Latest News:
Welcome to the Garment Worker Center Website!
Here’s the latest on our fight to the make the Los Angeles garment industry a healthy, humane, worker-controlled industry!
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RECENT NEWS FROM THE GWC – June 2010
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Weaving Theatre and Organizing – May 1st, 2010!
First, we want to thank all of our community supporters who marched with us on May 1st, International Workers’ Day! We hope you had a great time celebrating one of our favorite days in worker history, and were able to see first hand why it’s such an important day for us here at the Garment Worker Center. This year, we were excited to debut our grassroots street theatre skit about the concrete differences between an organized factory and a non-organized factory. With cheers from our awesome community supporters for the organized workers, and boos for the sweatshop bosses, we performed our skit on the corner of Santee and 8th surrounded by three different 10-12 story buildings filled with garment factories and workers. Each act was marked with a reminder of how an organized factory creates a much more humane environment for workers and keeps the bosses under control! The cast was a great multi-generational mix of garment workers, garment workers’ children and community supporters. Throughout our organizing efforts at the GWC, we do our best to integrate art and theatre, and we’ll be taking our skits into the streets to create a wider visibility of our struggle across the industry. Thanks again for sharing the day with us and we hope to share more street theatre with you in the future!
Garment Workers Keep the Pressure on Local Garment Factory Bosses
On May 29th, 2010, we organized a ‘visit’ to a sweatshop employer for 1) paying less than minimum wage, 2) not guaranteeing breaks, 3) not paying overtime and double time wages. In this particular factory, the owner of the company never showed his face, and instead left all the work to be done by his wife who had little patience and respect for the workers. The manager was known for screaming at employees, for giving workers more challenging fabric to sew (which led to less pay) when they spoke up against unfair wages or treatment.
Ana Maria*, a recent member of the Garment Worker Center, made the decision to demand her stolen wages from her employer. After calculating the total owed to her over the last three years, a number well into the tens of thousands, a team of 4 GWC members headed out to the notorious Swapmeet located on 8th and Broadway. The Swapmeet is a 10 story building with numerous garment factories on each floor. We have challenged many employers in this building over the years.
The group met early in the morning and reviewed the basics of how to confront her ex-boss and how to let other workers present in the factory know standing up to the boss is necessary and possible! When Ana Maria stepped into the factory, accompanied by another garment worker, she drew the boss onto the shop floor so that other workers could see her challenge her ex-boss for the wages owed to her. While she confronted her employer, 2 other team members distributed fliers to the workers sitting at their machines. We were able to successfully share information about the GWC and our struggle to organize and change the industry with about 40 workers! We are now putting pressure on the employer to come to the table to negotiate with Ana Maria for her stolen wages, at the GWC. We’ll keep you posted…
*(real name not used to avoid retaliation from employers)
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INTERNATIONAL STORIES OF WORKER RESISTANCE
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“No More Fires, No More Locked Exits, No More Garment Workers Deaths" campaign launched
May 11, 2010
The National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) of Bangladesh launched a new campaign this month entitled "No More Fires, No More Locked Exits, No More Garment Workers Deaths."
On May 1, approximately 5000 garment workers - mostly young women - marched to support the campaign. NGWF President Amirul Haque Amin, speaking at the rally, said "Since 1990, there have been 33 major garment factory fires in which more than 400 garment workers have been killed. During this same period more than 200 factory fires happened in which more than 5000 workers were injured. In addition, 64 workers were killed in the Spectrum Factory collapse in 2005. One of the reasons for the large number of causalities is the practice of locking factory exits, as well as a lack of health and safety inspections in many of the garment factories. Factory fires, locked exits, and workers deaths must stop."
The NGWF campaign is also demanding a new living wage for all garment workers set at TK.5000/ per month (US$71), the removal of all barriers to trade union formation and trade union activities in the garment sector, equal wages, rights and dignity for women workers, and reforms to Bangladeshi Labour Law.
We want to thank the Maquila Solidarity Network for the previous story about garment workers in Bangladesh. To find out more, you can visit their website at http://en.maquilasolidarity.org. Just search for their articles about these fierce Bangladeshi garment workers.
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SUPPORT THE GWC WITH YOUR FUNDS!
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Limited Edition T-shirt Sales!! May Day 8 hours slogan t-shirt!!
Want to buy a great t-shirt? Check out our May Day t-shirt below. If you’re interested in buying, just drop us a line with your preferred size and we’ll get it touch with you about picking it up or getting it mailed to you.
 
Call for Continuous Supporters
Support the GWC by becoming a continuous supporter! Your donations sustain the ongoing work at the Garment Worker Center and every contribution helps GWC cover vital expenses (weekly Saturday meals for worker meetings, printer and photocopier costs, fuel for transportation, electricity, etc.). Your financial support keeps us thriving and organizing. Remember, even $20.00 a month (the cost of a dinner date or a night out at the movies), is a way to say that you believe in the work of the GWC and an investment in a healthier industry for garment workers. Make your commitment today by clicking on the “DONATE” button on the left side of the screen.
Foundation Shout Outs!
We want to recognize CCHD for their continued support for the GWC. Joan Harper from CCHD, along with approximately 20 members of catholic churches nationwide, recently visited the GWC. The members heard about the different injustices in sweatshops located throughout LA, as well as the resistance from workers through the organizing at GWC. They also had the opportunity to see some of the factories for themselves. We appreciate the continued interest and support for worker-organizing in the garment industry.
We also want to recognize the ROTH foundation for recently deciding to support the GWC with funds for operational costs. The flexibility offered by this type of funding is always appreciated as it allows more wiggle room for creativity. Thank you!
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JOIN OUR VOLUNTEER FAMILY!
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Want to support garment workers in their fight against sweatshop conditions? Want to support garment workers so they can take the industry into their own hands and mold it into a fair and just industry? Then, join us! We are looking for volunteers who can take on different responsibilities at the Center so that the garment workers can focus on organizing their co-workers! Since January 2008, the GWC has been mostly run by volunteers and we would love to add you to our volunteer family. We need long-term volunteers who can give a little bit every week, or month, over a long period of time to make the GWC run seamlessly. We also need temporary volunteers for smaller projects throughout the year. Click the “GET ACTIVE” link on our page and scroll to the bottom for a list of projects that we need help developing, growing and maintaining.
  
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LOOK FOR OUR NEXT UPDATE IN AUGUST!!
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PAST GWC UPDATES BELOW
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What's been happening since January 2010?
Hello GWC Supporters!
We know it’s been a little while, but we’ve been busy organizing away in the garment district. Here are this quarter’s updates:
- Invitation to International Workers' Day 2010 - MARCH WITH US!
- Updates from the Factories
- Economic Crisis and the Garment Industry
- Shop with a Heart 2009
- Introducing the Newest GWC Board Members
- GWC Volunteers Rock!
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JOIN US FOR OUR ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF INTERNATIONAL WORKERS' DAY
Every May 1st, International Workers Day, GWC makes the commitment to celebrate the historic importance of this day by marching and chanting through the streets of the garment district and by creating visibility for other garment workers about the need to end sweatshop labor and create humane and healthy factories with more worker-control over conditions. We use the inspirational history of May Day in our organizing to remind ourselves of the power that workers in the U.S have wielded when working conditions were deplorable and that we can do it again!
We look forward to this event every May and we want to invite all of you to join us for this year’s festivities.
Mark your calendars because, this year, International Workers Day is on a Saturday! Come help us make posters, banners and t-shirts. Come help us come up with great chants and maybe even participate in some street theatre.
Join us on Saturday, April 17th at 2pm, and Saturday, April 24th at 2pm, and Friday, April 30th at 6:30pm for our art-making days.
Join us on Saturday, May 1st at 9:30am as we take to the streets of the Garment District and denounce the exploitation in the industry.
Call or email us to let us know you’re coming.
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Updates from the Field:
As many of you know, every month we have several opportunities to pay ‘visits’ to scumbag employers that knowingly steal workers’ paychecks and deny healthy working conditions. Since January, we’ve been able to confront various employers in their own factories for stealing workers’ paychecks and laying off workers with no prior notice. We have also successfully pressured manufacturers to force their contractors to come to the table and negotiate with workers who were owed wages. We’re not always successful in pressuring employers to come to an agreement because of how the industry structurally supports rampant theft and exploitation, but we’re proud to announce that this last month we successfully negotiated for the stolen wages of one of our compañer@s! Victory is priceless!
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How are the workers doing with this economic crisis?
Many workers have felt the impact of the economic crisis mostly through the worsening of already inhumane conditions. Workers report having to walk long stretches of downtown streets to find factories that are hiring. They also report how employers are taking advantage of this crisis to lower wages EVEN MORE than the below minimum-wage levels already received, or how many employers haven’t paid workers AT ALL for months. There is a continued sense of frustration and we are continuing to organize to shift that frustrated energy to fight-back energy.
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Shop with a Heart Update
Thanks to all of you who joined us for Shop with a Heart in December. We hope that you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did! We transformed this old garment district building into a beautiful space for fair trade buying, community building, informational updates about the industry and, how can we forget, some Bomba dancing! Check out the pictures from the event below. Thanks to all of the volunteers who made the event possible and to our supporters for helping us make the event a success. Thank you to all of our donors and fair-trade buyers. Every contribution keeps the GWC alive and thriving! We look forward to this year’s fair trade celebrations in December of 2010.
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Give a warm welcome to our newest Board Members
We are excited to announce the 3 newest members to join our GWC Board! As some of you may know, the GWC Board is mostly composed of active volunteers that have a closer relationship to the day-to-day work at GWC than typical Board Members of other Not-for-Profit organizations. Our board not only supports the overall management of the finances and fundraising, but also the long-term strategizing for our organizing and program work. We know GWC will continue to grow powerfully with the support of these amazing members.
Introducing Guadalupe Rocio Chavez:
Guadalupe began volunteering at the GWC in 2008 with our Mental Health Support Group. Her training and experiences with Liberation Theology and Narrative Therapy provided a space for garment workers to process some of the collective traumas experienced by garment workers in the industry and its impact on their personal lives. Guadalupe is an active organizer in Community Land Trust efforts in South Central Los Angeles and played an important role with South Central Youth organization that sought to encourage a self-determining approach to changes in the community. In December of 2009, she decided to become a volunteer organizer at the Garment Worker Center and is currently in training.
Introducing Leanna Noble:
Leanna Noble comes to us as a labor organizer with UE (United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America). Leanna has been a committed labor organizer for many years. UE is a unique union that is committed to democracy and decision-making from the bottom up. Just to jog some of your memories, UE is the union which had organized the workers at the Republic Windows and Doors which did a factory take-over in Chicago at the beginning of this economic crisis to demand justice for workers being fired. Leanna has been doing the day to day hard work of organizing and politicizing with UE for many years and helps to shape it’s broader political perspective. She has, and will continue to provide, tremendous support in our thinking about workplace organizing and strategy.
Introducing Miguel Morales:
Miguel Morales started working at the GWC as an organizer in 2006 and has supported the organizing in various ways ever since. Miguel started his work as an activist as a teenager and comes from a family historically rooted in the teachers’ struggles in Oaxaca. He started his formal organizing training at IDEPSCA working with day laborers. He has been with the GWC through our Health and Safety Campaign efforts that started in 2007, has been active in the development of our Workers Rights Workshops, a supporter of our worker case support nights, and a facilitator and trainer for our factory visits. He currently participates as a volunteer member of the organizing team. Miguel also livens up our quarterly Pachangas with his DJ skills and offers insights to our childcare work through his experience with non-violent parenting methodologies.
We welcome all of you to our GWC Board!
Our current board members as of February of 2010:
Delia Herrera
Guadalupe Rocio Chavez
Kimi Lee
Leanna Noble
Miguel Morales
Simmi Gandhi
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How is Kimi doing?
Kimi Lee, as many of you are probably aware, has formally moved up to the Oakland/San Francisco area to support her family and to receive support from her broader village. Yet, although 300 miles north of LA, she continues to provide us with much needed support, advice and continuity. She says she is doing well with the transition and is having fun keeping up with Berlin’s latest moves. Thanks, Kimi, for all the love!
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Volunteers make the GWC move!
We want to thank all the awesome volunteers that keep the day-to-day work moving at the GWC!
To the garment workers who are key movers and shakers of the organization!
To the non-garment workers who support the garment worker organizing!
Aimee (& awesome cooking friends!)
Brieanne
delia
Elba
Eunice
Fabiola
Geneva
Guadalupe
Kimi
Kyra
Laura
Lisa
Luz Elena
Melissa
Miguel
Simmi
Terezia
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Thanks everyone for your continued support and we hope to see you in April for our May 1st preparations.
In struggle,
Garment Worker Center Board and Volunteers
For More News click Here!
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