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/ dave /
Top U.S. companies being sued for `America's worst sweatshop'
January 13, 1999 Web posted at: 6:47 PM EST (2347 GMT)
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Thousands of Asians have been lured to the U.S. territory of Saipan to make clothing for American companies, only to be beaten, forced into getting abortions and made to live under guard in cramped, rat-infested quarters, according to lawsuits filed Wednesday.
Saipan was described by one lawyer as "America's worst sweatshop" where more than 50,000 Asians have been recruited with promises of good wages to make clothing tagged "Made in the USA."
Three lawsuits seek more than $1 billion in damages for conditions they claim have persisted for the past decade in the 13-mile-long tropical isle in the Central Pacific.
The lawsuits are the first legal attempt to hold U.S. retailers accountable for alleged mistreatment of workers by subcontractors under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, attorneys said at news conferences in New York City and Los Angeles.
In describing the workplaces, plaintiffs' attorney William Lerach said in Los Angeles that they "would make medieval conditions look good."
Two worker class-action suits were filed in federal courts in Los Angeles and Saipan. A third lawsuit was filed in San Francisco state court by the human rights groups Global Exchange, Sweatshop Watch, Asian Law Caucus and the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees.
Among the 18 companies named in the suits are The Limited, Wal-Mart, Sears, The Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, the May Company, J. Crew, Oshkosh B'Gosh, Associated Merchandising, Cutter & Buck Inc., Gymboree Manufacturing, Lane Bryant Inc., Warnaco and Dayton-Hudson Inc., which owns Marshall Fields.
Tommy Hilfiger, J.C. Penney, Wal-Mart and Dayton Hudson Corp. insisted Wednesday they hire only subcontractors that strictly follow U.S. labor laws. Calls to other companies were not returned or they had no comment.
According to the lawsuits, 32 Saipan factories force people to work up to 12 hours a day, seven days a week, and threaten them with beatings and verbal abuse if they refuse unpaid overtime to meet quotas set by factory managers.
Workers' passports are confiscated upon arrival, they are not allowed to leave the factory compound, and their social activities are strictly monitored, Lerach said.
The factories -- mostly owned by Chinese, Japanese and Korean subcontractors -- stamp their clothing with "Made in the USA" and are able to sidestep duties, tariffs and quotas imposed on imported clothing.
In the fiscal year that ended in October, the Saipan factories shipped an estimated $1 billion in wholesale clothing duty-free to the U.S. mainland, saving more than $200 million, Lerach said.
Pamela Rucker, spokeswoman for the industry group National Retail Federation, said whether it is misleading to use a "Made in the USA" label is a matter for the Federal Trade Commission and truth-in-labeling laws to regulate.
"Without seeing the charges, the most that we can say is that retailers are understandably shocked by any such allegations," Rucker said.
Saipan is part of the Northern Marianas, an island chain seized by U.S. troops from Japan in World War II that negotiated a commonwealth relationship with Washington. The deal left control of immigration and minimum wages in local hands, and exempted Saipan's exports from U.S. duties and quotas.
Many workers, most of whom are young women from China, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Thailand, allegedly pay as much as $7,000 as a "recruitment fee" to go to Saipan, lured by recruiters who say they will be living an hour's train ride from Los Angeles, Lerach said.
"I took the job because, like millions of people, I wanted to come to America," said Carmencita Abad, a Filipino native who spent six years working in Saipan.