American Aparell's Dirty Laundry

American Apparel is a Los Angeles-based clothing company that produces American-made shirts, pants and accessories. Globally minded consumers have flocked to the black and white stores, attracted by the company’s commitment to using sweatshop-free labor. The American Apparel website touts “the sale of a ‘conscience-free’ product line for those individuals who want to send a message to a clothing industry fueled by sweatshop labor.”
At the same time though, consumers are sending another message to the American worker and his fight for labor rights: We just don’t care.
American Apparel has consistently and deliberately acted to bust union efforts in its factories. Proponents of the company say that union efforts would be redundant as American Apparel already offers its workers satisfactory labor benefits. Among the benefits is an eight-dollar an hour base salary and on-site health care. The Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees (UNITE) though, claimed roughly 20 disgruntled employees contacted them regarding oppressive labor conditions. After an evaluation of the employee’s claims, UNITE began a union drive hoping to address labor problems including a lack of paid time off, job-site mistreatment, and a program that rewards employees who inform on the other employees working to organize the shop. UNITE’s efforts were quickly stonewalled by American Apparel.
According to UNITE documents, CEO and founder Dov Charney is guilty of union busting in his factory. UNITE claims Charney forced workers to hold anti-union rallies, penalized assemblers who advocated for an open shop, and even fired outspoken employees. Charney maintains that the factory is union-neutral and even offered to hold a union vote among its employees. These “concessions” though are hollow as Charney still holds anti-union rallies and offered the union a vote after upwards of 35 employees were fired for trying to organize.
By denying its workers the opportunity for collective bargaining and representation, American Apparel mocks its own advertisements about social consciousness and labor reform. One such marketing ploy is their “Legalize LA” campaign, which advocates immigrant policy reform. The campaign is ingenious in that it encourages the purchase of “Legalize LA” t-shirts but fails to actually state specific political goals of the campaign. What better way to capatalize on a socially controversial issue than to create a product line based on a hollow platitude? If American Apparel was truly serious about immigrant reform, it would create programs that would help current immigrants obtain legal citizenship now.
American consumers must focus the same intensity on domestic labor rights as we do on the sweatshops of East Asia. Under the guise of socially minded business practice, American Apparel has lured a generation of hipsters and fashion-forward teenagers into a lucrative campaign of misinformation. When all of the company’s “dirty laundry” is aired it becomes clear that the American Apparel is different only in degree, not kind, from its competitors.