MY UCLA T-SHIRT WAS
Exploring Labor Violations in Los Angeles Collegiate Apparel Industry Introduction:
Around the world, garment workers face poor working conditions
Project Description:
Collegiate apparel is a major participant in the global
that include unsafe and unsanitary work environments, long hours and low wages.
fashion industry, which includes major manufacturers and numerous levels of subcontractors.
Students, as consumers and social justice agents, cannot remain indifferent to such
Due to time and resource constraints, the project explores a subsection of Los Angeles
realities. Two decades ago, students filled college campuses protesting for the production
Collegiate Apparel Industry. First, I acquired data from the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC)
of apparel with their university’s logo in sweatshops around the world. This inspired the
for the subcontracting firms working with licensees selling to the UC universities. Second, since
creation of the Worker Rights Consortium in 2001. In Los Angeles, violations and horror
the intent is to acquire a sample of firms that work for both minor and major brands I also
stories also emerged in the 1990s, including the “El Monte Sweatshop Case,” when over 72
include Los Angeles’ firms not producing apparel with UC logos but working with major licensee
Thai immigrants were found in a labor trafficking raid. Since then, the Los Angeles Garment
brands. UC students should be concerned about the human exploitation their high price college
industry has become one of the most regulated and closely scrutinized industries in the
apparel is paying for, especially if violations occur in California. This project can inform our UC
state of California.
students about the specific brands of clothing that participate indirectly in labor abuses.
The Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) conducts independent investigations on factories
My hypothesis is that manufacturing firms’ characteristics similar to ones found in manufacturing
that produce apparel with College and University logos, and advocates for factory workers
firms in developing countries make then more prone to labor violations. In order to explore
as part of their mission to end the exploitation of human labor. The project intends to
deeper firms’ characteristics I am in the process of carrying out interviews with firms from the
find which characteristics of apparel manufacturing firms make them more prone to labor
subsample. Moreover, the types of violations explained below are from the Occupational Safety
violations. The main focus is to help the WRC identify Corporations that directly and
and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Wage and Hour Division (WHD). To assemble the data
indirectly participate in the perpetuation of labor violations that occur in the production of
set for labor violations, the firm names, with specific inspections and their respective dates,
collegiate apparel here in Los Angeles.
were researched in the dataset from the Department of Labor.
Los Angeles as a Fashion Manufacturing Hub Firms selling apparel with university logos are also part of the bigger Fashion Industry.
Important Statistics about the Fashion Industry according to the division of NAICS using the
Thus to understand the relevance of Los Angeles for apparel production, the project
County Business Patterns (last 5 years) from the US Census for 2011:
uses a definition developed by the New York Economic Corporation which divides the industry according to Industrial classification (NAICS codes). NAICS description
NAICS number 2007 Design
Other specialised design services
541490
Wholesale Men’s and boys’ clothing and furnishings wholesalers Women’s, children’s and infants’ clothing and accessories merchant wholesalers
424320 424330
Jewellery, watch, precious stone and precious metal merchant wholesalers
423940
Home furnishing merchant wholesalers
423220
Supply Textile mills Textile mill products Piece goods, notions and other dry goods merchant wholesalers
313 314 424310
Manufacturing Apparel manufacturing Leather and allied product manufacturing Costume jewelry and novelty manufacturing Fastener, button, needle, and pin manufacturing
315 316 339914 339993
From the whole US Fashion Industry, Los Angeles County’s Fashion Industry accounts for a share of 17% of establishments and 14% of employment. From the whole US Fashion Industry, US Fashion Manufacturing accounts for a share of 19% of establishments and 23% of employment. From the whole US Fashion Manufacturing Industry, Los Angeles County’s accounts for a share of 29% establishments and 27% of employment.
The Collegiate Apparel Industry & Labor Violations in Los Angeles
Recommendations Collaborate:
T h e Wor k e r R i gh ts Con sorti u m (WRC) sh ou ld debate w i th
t h e “L os An g e l e s G a r m e n t Wor k e r Cen ter” an d au th ori ti es of Cali forn i a a b ou t p os s i b l e w a y s of p a r t n e r i n g i n cam pai gn s or i n v esti gati on s agai n st l a b or a b u s e s i n t h e L os An g e l e s an d th e LA Fash i on Di stri ct.
Monitor:
To f u l l y u n d e r s t a n d labor v i olati on s on a bi gger scale, th e
W R C s h ou l d a p p l y t h i s p r oj e c t ’s m eth odology u si n g th ei r w h ole regi stry of f i r m s w or k i n g w i t h i n t h e U S A. Si m i larly, a fu tu re research abou t th e w h ole L os An g e l e s Ap p a r e l I n d u s t r y c a n em ploy th e w h ole Cali forn i a regi stry of a p p a r e l f i r m s c om p i l e d b y t h e State of Cali forn i a’s Departm en t of I n d u s t r i a l Re l a t i on s .
License:
T h e C ol l e g i a t e L i c e n si n g Com pan y (CLC), adv i sed by th e WRC,
s h ou l d t a k e i n t o a c c ou n t c h a r a c teri sti cs of fi rm s w i th labor v i olati on s As shown above, the main agglomeration of firms producing collegiate apparel is in downtown Los Angeles, the area known as Fashion District. The disclosed information of firms from the CLC shows the firms producing apparel as for October 2013, the mapping of labor violations is not an over time analysis. Thus firms that did infractions in the 1990’s are not being map next to other violators from the 1990’s that stop production or did not renew a license to produce with CLC (these do not show in the dataset provided by CLC). However it is important to know where violations are located in the last 7 years, under a new administration for the Department of Labor. The median centers for both OSHA and
e s p e c i a l l y r e c i d i v i s m w h e n r e v i e w i n g an appli cati on an d/ or ren ew i n g a l i c e n s e e . A d e t a i l s u r v e y t o a p p li can t fi rm s abou t th ei r su bcon tracti n g p r a c t i c e s s h ou l d b e d r a f t a c c or di n gly. Rev i ew i n g boards sh ou ld pay speci al a t t e n t i on t o a p p l i c a n t b r a n d s a lready su bcon tracti n g fi rm s i n th e LA f a s h i on Di s t r i c t .
Promote :
T h e W R C s h ou l d f i gh t to keep th e spi ri t of “ Un i ted Stu den ts
Ag a i n s t S w e a t s h op s ” a l i v e . Th e organ i z ati on sh ou ld con si der u si n g th e
WHD violations for the last 7 years locate also within the Fashion district agglomeration.
G I S t e c h n ol og y e m p l oy e d i n t h i s project to prom ote th ei r w ork an d keep
OSHA inspections: 6 firms, 43 violations
or g a n i z e a n d p r e s e n t t h e i r d a t a i n a m ore accessi ble m an n er. Ex . Dev elop
WHD inspections: 11 firms, 28 violations
l oc a l or f or e i g n f i r m s s u b c on t r acted by li cen see bran ds selli n g w i th th ei r
s t u d e n t s e n g a g e d w i t h i t s m i s s i on . G I S tech n ology can allow th e WRC a “C e l l p h on e Ap p ” t h a t w i l l a l l o w stu den ts search for i n v esti gati on s on u n i v e r s i t y l og o.
Luis Artieda Moncada (luis13artieda@hotmail.com) - Master of Urban & Regional Planning, UCLA 2014 - Client: Worker Rights Consortium - Faculty Adv isor: Chris Tilly