Labor Squeeze and Ethnic/Racial Recomposition in the U.S. Apparel Industry
Author(s)
Blumenberg, Evelyn; Ong, Paul
Abstract
The apparel industry is one of the signature industries of the global economy. Sweatshop conditions in Caribbean and Asian garment factories have been the target of well-publicized picket lines and boycotts among activists sympathetic to labor, to the point that a popular U.S. TV personality was reduced to public tears when the line of women’s clothes she endorsed was exposed as the product of oppressive factories. Most clothing items are easily made with un-skilled labor and a few simple machines, so manufactures can move quickly to take advantage of lower wages or a more favorable business climate. For years producers have been moving out of the United States or contracting with off-shore suppliers to reduce costs, particularly labor costs. However, the global restructuring of industry has also reshaped what remains of the industry in the United States, intensifying or shifting the direction of changes already underway.
