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While it might not be surprising that American Apparel has made the headlines once again for their business practices, it is a touch ironic that the company who is behind the "Legalize L.A." movement for immigration reform revealed today "that the government has found that 1,800 of its employees are either illegally working in the U.S. or potentially illegal to work," according to USA Today.
Representing about one-third of the LA-based clothing company's workforce, the 1,800 are divided into two camps: 1,600 who were identified by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as being unauthorized to work, and 200 for whom their status could not be verified. American Apparel says "it was not found to have willingly hired illegal workers."
The fate of the employees who cannot provide proof of eligibility to work is to lose their jobs with American Apparel, however, the investigation "led to no mass arrest or deportation of employees."
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Fantastic! Considering Los Angeles' 10%+ unemployment rate, they should have no problem filling the 1,800 vacancies with legal workers.
If only it were that easy....
Truth is, lots of LA's unemployed don't want to work in the garment industry, even for a decent salary.
... decent salary ... f*ck they don't event get minimum wage.
A lot of the positions won't be re-filled as AA's production levels are now lower.
Also, Reuters had the best headline:
Probe fingers 1,800 American Apparel workers
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE55T7TU20090701
It's the biggest non-surprise of the year! Not because it's American Apparel, just because there are so many undocumented workers here and the clothing industry is a popular destination for many.
I honestly don't think this is against American Apparel's philosophy. If they had their way these individuals could work for them no problem and it is unlikely they were exploiting them. This really doesn't change how I view them at all.
I'm much more concerned about their working conditions than I am about their immigration status. From what I've heard/read, AA is not a problem in that area.
American Apparel, who supports immigration reform, hires undocumented workers? I'm still trying to figure out if the media is spinning this as a positive or a negative. To me, this is something great! As long as they are taking advantage of the workers and lowballing them on wages. And let's begin to say that these workers are taking jobs away from "hard-working, unemployed Americans" because no one would want a job making garments in Downtown LA. These people are doing a service for us and are getting paid to do it. Good for all parties involved.
I'm never one to pull out the PC card, but this issue really bothers me. These people are by definition illegal immigrants. The use of euphemisms, particularly "undocumented workers," completely soft pedals the issue. It makes it sound like a bunch of people who missed a few check boxes on their W-4 forms rather than a group that is actively breaking the law.