Of the 22.000 manufacturers of clothing and accessories in the United States. more than half are paying wages substantially below the minimum wage. and a third are exposing their workers to serious safety and health risks. Sweatshops run by unscrupulous contractors have a long and sordid history in this country. In 1911. a tragic fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. on Manhattans Lower East Side killed 146 young immigrant women. who suffocated or burned to death because the exits had been locked or blocked. Eightyfive years later. conditions too often have not improved. In August 1996. four Brooklyn garment factories were closed and their owners arrested for operating sweatshops. Among the fire code violations were locked exit doors. obstructed aisles. and violations of sprinkler system requirements. In addition. the contractors maintained two sets of accounting records. one showing that workers were being paid as little as $2.67 per hourfar less than the minimum wage. The workers. all Asian immigrants. were making clothes for KMart. A similar sweatshop scandal came to light last spring with respect to clothing made for WalMart stores. In August 1995. Federal investigators raided a sewing factory outside Los Angeles. In a compound surrounded by barbed wire. agents found dozens of Thai and Mexican immigrant women working 20hour days for as little as $1 per hour. The women were held captive at their sewing tables by guards who threatened them if they tried to escape. As these examples make clear. current law is not adequate to prevent such abuses.
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