Queens Factory Accused of Labor Violations
Aug 11, 2008
A New York garment factory that made clothes for Macy’s and other major retailers underpaid its workers millions of dollars, according to state labor officials.
Jin Shun – supplier of garments to retailers like Banana Republic, The Limited and Victoria’s Secret – forced employees to work 12-hour days, six or seven days a week but did not pay overtime or minimum wage.
Since 2005, roughly 100 employees were cheated out of more than $3 million, according to officials at New York’s State Department of Labor. In total, officials estimate, the Queens-based garment factory underpaid its workers $5.5 million in wages.
“This factory paid sweatshop wages, kept fake records and coached employees to lie even though it had signed retailer codes of conduct to comply with the law,” said New York Labor Commissioner M. Patricia Smith, according to a CNN report.
Jin Shun made workers use two sets of timesheets to disguise hours so that neither document could amount to more than 40 hours per week. And employers coached employees to lie to investigators, the labor department said.
State labor officials entered the factory and tagged 10,000 garments as unlawfully made. Urban Apparel, the company that hired Jin Shun to make its garments paid a $60,000 fine to have the tags removed.
Macy’s issued a statement following the accusations. “There is no place in Macy’s stores for goods that are manufactured by workers who are underage, underpaid or forced to work in conditions that are illegal,” said Janet Grove of Macy’s Merchandising Group, according to Just-Style.com.
In separate statements, other retailers who employed the garment factory issued statements condemning Jin Shun’s practices while supporting strict state labor policies and fair working conditions.
A New York garment factory that made clothes for Macy’s and other major retailers underpaid its workers millions of dollars, according to state labor officials.
Jin Shun – supplier of garments to retailers like Banana Republic, The Limited and Victoria’s Secret – forced employees to work 12-hour days, six or seven days a week but did not pay overtime or minimum wage.
Since 2005, roughly 100 employees were cheated out of more than $3 million, according to officials at New York’s State Department of Labor. In total, officials estimate, the Queens-based garment factory underpaid its workers $5.5 million in wages.
“This factory paid sweatshop wages, kept fake records and coached employees to lie even though it had signed retailer codes of conduct to comply with the law,” said New York Labor Commissioner M. Patricia Smith, according to a CNN report.
Jin Shun made workers use two sets of timesheets to disguise hours so that neither document could amount to more than 40 hours per week. And employers coached employees to lie to investigators, the labor department said.
State labor officials entered the factory and tagged 10,000 garments as unlawfully made. Urban Apparel, the company that hired Jin Shun to make its garments paid a $60,000 fine to have the tags removed.
Macy’s issued a statement following the accusations. “There is no place in Macy’s stores for goods that are manufactured by workers who are underage, underpaid or forced to work in conditions that are illegal,” said Janet Grove of Macy’s Merchandising Group, according to Just-Style.com.
In separate statements, other retailers who employed the garment factory issued statements condemning Jin Shun’s practices while supporting strict state labor policies and fair working conditions.
