Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
American Apparel Sent Layoff Notices To Over 3,300 Southern California Employees
American Apparel in Malibu (Photo by Eric Demarcq via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
()
American Apparel, headquartered in downtown Los Angeles, has informed over 3,300 employees in Southern California that their jobs might come to an end in early 2017. American Apparel issued potential layoff notices to employees at three separate production facilities, amounting to 2,166 employees in downtown Los Angeles, 959 employees in South Gate, and 221 employees in Garden Grove, the L.A. Times reports. These numbers can be seen in a WARN report among other potential layoffs from California employers. American Apparel's notice is dated November 7.
"WARN" stands for Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, and according to the State of California Employment Development Department:
Per Chapter 4, Part 4, Sections 1400-1408 of the Labor Code, WARN protects employees, their families, and communities by requiring that employers give a 60-day notice to the affected employees and both state and local representatives prior to a plant closing or mass layoff. Advance notice provides employees and their families time to transition and adjust to the prospective loss of employment, time to seek alternative jobs and, if necessary, time to obtain skills training or retraining to successfully compete in the job market.
As such, American Apparel says the notices are only a "legal precaution" and the layoffs have not been set in stone. American Apparel laid off 500 employees in Southern California earlier this year.
Support for LAist comes from
The layoffs may depend on a possible sale of American Apparel to Gildan Activewear. The Canadian manufacturer is looking to buy portions of American Apparel for $66 million. Because American Apparel filed for bankruptcy (twice), other buyers may also bid on the company or pieces of the company. For instance, Gildan is interested in the company's intellectual property rights, but not its retail stores. If no one buys the retail stores in the United States, they will liquidate and shut down, according to Consumerist. American Apparel stores outside of the U.S. will close after the holiday shopping season. The auction is scheduled to take place on December 21, the Winston-Salem Journal reports.
Craig Johnson, president of consumer research firm Customer Growth Partners, told the Times that a sale to any buyer is liable to result in layoffs in Southern California, as they may choose to move some of the production outside of the U.S. or to cheaper states than California. Gildan manufactures most of its products in Central America and the Caribbean.
However, Forbes reports that a crucial part of the deal was that Gildan would keep production in the United States and at least some of it in L.A. Gildan recently purchased Alstyle Apparel, which is also located in California.
Gildan VP of Corporate Communications Garry Bell told the Times, "We felt like 'made in America' is an inherent part of that brand. It is our intent to continue that focus."
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist