The True Cost of Made in USA: Garment Workers Are Paid Less Than $2 Per Hour — Retail Bum

A U.S. Department of Labor report has revealed that garment workers in the United States are being paid as little as $1.58 per hour, on par with the wages received by workers in Bangladesh.

The report is based on a survey of 50 garment sewing contractors and manufacturers in Southern California, where apparel is produced for many of the country’s leading fashion retailers, including Bombshell Sportswear, Dillard’s, Lulus, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Socialite, Stitch Fix and Von Maur.

In Los Angeles, which is the epicenter of the U.S. garment manufacturing industry, many of the 45,000 garment workers currently work in sweatshop conditions. They are regularly victims of abuse, illegal pay and wage theft, with workers putting in an average of 55 hours per week with no overtime pay. Eighty percent of the surveyed facilities were found to be in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Meanwhile, more than 50% of the time, employers were found to be engaging in illegal acts, such as paying workers off the books and forgery or absence of payroll records.

Nearly a third of the workers were also found to be paid piece-rate wages, which the State of California prohibits.