Labor Department Says Queens Sweatshop Supplied City’s Top Retailers
Posted by admin | Queens News | Posted on July 23rd, 2008
On Wednesday, the State Labor Department accused a Queens factory that made clothes for the city’s top retail stores of sweatshop practices and cheating workers out of millions. NY1’s Ty Chandler filed the following report. 
Outfits that city residents may have bought at Macy‚Äôs, The Gap or Victoria’s Secret were allegedly made in Queens by workers who were paid pennies.¬†
On Wednesday, the State Department of Labor accused Jin Shun International, a Long Island City contractor that makes women’s clothing for major retailers, of shortchanging its garment workers of more than $5 million over the last six years.¬†
A two-year employee of Jin Shun, who did not reveal her identity in fear of retaliation, said as a condition of employment she had to keep the DOL from knowing the factory’s procedures. 
“We were told to lie to say we were working not for piece work, but for $7.15 an hour,” said the worker, “and we were told to minimize our working hours, not 72 hours but under 30.” 
The employees said they did not even make minimum wage. 
“We were making $3, $4 an hour,” said a worker. 
The DOL had investigated Jin Shun for a while, but their breakthrough came in May, when two employees came forward. 
‚ÄúIf those time cards were real, the workers produced each garment in less than one minute — a physical impossibility,‚Äù said DOL Commissioner Patricia Smith.¬†
Before any more of Jin Shun’s clothes could end up in retail stores, the DOL raided the sweatshop, and tagged 10,000 garments with the above-pictured red labels that alerts that they were made unlawfully. 
When NY1 stopped by Jin Shun, the doors were locked and no one would answer. 
Urban Apparel, the clothing manufacturer that hired them, paid the state $60,000 dollars to get the red tags removed. They did not return NY1’s calls. 
Retailers, including Macy’s, Express and The Limited expressed concerns over the situation and said they do their part to abide by labor laws, although the DOL says they should have been doing more.¬†
“We think with aggressive enforcement they should have known,” said Smith. 
Jin Shun could be held responsible for the millions of dollars allegedly owed to more than 100 workers, and the DOL says the manufacturer and retailers could have to pay that out as well. 
The owners of Jin Shun could also be subject to criminal charges.
