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New York City is the country's largest production center for women's apparel. there are 100,000 workers in more than 7,000 factories. Apparel is New York City's largest manufacturing industry, accounting for 1 in 3 manufacturing jobs. The $20 billion apparel industry is NYC's largest, and considered "the backbone of New York City's industrial base. The fashion industry employs 180,00 people in New York City. 100,000 in apparel manufacturing, 48,000 in apparel wholesaling, the rest in related industries
(leather, jewelry) or in support services (models, photographers, advertising). An additional 70,000 are employed in fashion retailing. More than 50,000 New York residents, mostly Hispanic, Asian and Russian women are currently working for more than 3,000 sweatshops-type factories where wage and safety laws are violated, according to the federal government's General Accounting Office (GAO). According to a November 1994 GAO report, "the sweatshop problem in the garment industry has not improved over the last 5 years, most experts believe, primarily because of legislative, resources, and economic factors...intense price-competitive dynamics of the garment industry continue to foster a willingness among manufacturers and contractors to break labor laws. " The "intensive price-competitive dynamics" refers to the impact of NAFTA, GATT, the globalization of the garment trade and the retailer's growing role in it. records maintained by employers on workers's pay and hours of work are essential in enforcement of minimum wage and overtime provisions in the Fair labor and Standards Act (FSLA). Yet, the FSLA does not include any civil or monetary penalties for records keeping violations. Because the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) does not identify the garment industry as a high hazard industry, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) chooses to rely on worker complaints or reported injuries before conducting safety inspections. due to the immigrant or undocumented nature of much of the sweatshop labor force, and the resulting language, cultural and others barriers. WHD and OSHA rarely receive complaints from workers in seatshops. This results in health and safety laws going unenforced and the erosion of condition in the industry. In 1993 the Apparel Task Force conducted 266 wage-claim investigations resulting in 173 violations. A $ 120 skirt that bring the retailer $ 60 and the jobber $25, typically brings the contractor $ 5. Neither the consumer who buys the overpriced skirt nor the worker who earns then $ 2.50 for making it benefits from this pricing system. Retailer 50%; Jobber 20.8%; Materials 16.7%; Contractor 4.2%; Labor 8.3%. According with Time Magazine, November 2,1998 "Slaves of New York" by Edward Barnes, "The size of establishments corresponds for flexible, fragmented labor. The Deparment of Labor conservatively estimates that over 60% of NYC's 7,000 to 7,500 garment factories are sweatshops. As many as 80% to 90% of garment shops in Chinatown can be considered sweatshops, even though close to 90% of them are unionized". Seventh Avenue is the center of the fashion industry in the United States.- New York City-based firms design and sell most of the clothing worn by American women. There are over 5,000 fashion industry showrooms and corporate offices in New York City. 22,000 out of town buyers bring $100 million to New York City each year. Virtually all the fashion media is based in New York City. The Fashion Institute of Tecnology (FIT), with 12,000 students, is the world's largest school dedicated to the fashion industries. |
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