Working conditions for female textile and clothing workers in California are expected to improve as a result of the proposed Garment Worker Protection Act. This legislation, authored by South San Diego Democrat Lorena Gonzales, received Senate approval in June and is set to go before the Assembly at the end of July. Barring any last-minute surprises, the Democrat majority-led chamber will approve the text, and Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom will then only have to sign it off. Within the text is the elimination of per piece work and the direct responsibility of retailers and brands for their workers' salaries.
At stake is the fate of 45,000 female workers, many of whom are South American and working in nearly 2,000 cutting, assembling and dyeing factories in lower Los Angeles. These workers should normally be covered by legislation signed in 1999 that should provide them with decent salaries and working conditions. However circumvention of the legislation has been widespread. “Some retailers and manufacturers have spent the last 20 years circumventing the law (AB 633) to avoid liability, by creating
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