Posted on 05/02/2006 4:23:04 PM PDT by SandRat
Morning Edition, April 28, 2006 · The debate over immigration has been dominated by politicians, pundits, and activists with differing viewpoints -- but rarely from those who hire immigrant workers, particularly in the garment industry.
Dov Charney runs American Apparel, the largest single garment factory in the United States. It's not your typical garment factory. There's electronica music playing in the showroom, hip, edgy, sexually suggestive photo ads on every wall, and a thriving team spirit among the workers.
And Charney is not your typical garment factory boss. The energetic and wiry 37-year-old regularly stops by each department to greet his employees. Like nearly all of his 3,800 workers, Charney is an immigrant -- though in his case, a Canadian with a green card.
He says 75 percent of his workforce is probably Mexican, and he claims to check the legal status of each one. "Everyone who works here, we check their documents -- but we don't over-document or under-document," he says. "We follow the law in a very precise manner."
Still, Charney admits that fake identification cards are easy to come by, and that many of those toiling in the apparel industry and similar businesses are undocumented.
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
OK all California FReepers --- Time to call "la migra" and the feds on this Canadian law breaker.
Look.
Immigration is what my parents did when they waited for their place in the quota process before coming to the States from Mussolini's Italy. My Dad's family waited about fifteen years.
What we are talking about here ARE NOT Immigrants, but ILLEGAL ALIANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ILLEGAL ALIENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How ironic....."American Apparel" made by NON-American's...
Agreed, but that's not NPR's take. This Canadian Law-Breaker needs shut-down, his employees arrested and deported, and NPR needs to be totally defunded of tax-payer dollars.
Translation - I hire illegals.
And Missy said whether they are legal or illegal doesn't matter, spoken like a socialist. Yes to Americans it matters!
As competitive as the apparel market is with imports from the Asian rim countries and China, I very much doubt the "facts" in this story. Many American apparel manufacturers have either gone out of business or sent the manufacturing overseas.
Paying double the California minimum wage, providing free transportation, health care and benefits, frequent breaks, massages, etc., can lead to great employee morale and perhaps increased productivity but I doubt that it is profitable.
They cite sales of $210 mil but no profit figures. Wonder why?
He (Charney) has been instrumental in propelling American Apparel's growth to the status of largest and most profitable T-shirt manufacturing company in the United States.
Twice CA's min wage is only $12.50/hr so I guess he might be able to do it, but I am still skeptical.
American Apparel is a huge success story.
But there is a lot of irony that in a time when many American companies are moving production to Mexico, a Canadian just moves to Los Angeles and accomplishes the same thing.
Send him back to Al Qanada!
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