In far too many cases, clothes that come with a "Made in USA" tag are cut and sewn by workers toiling in American sweatshops, characterized by many of the same entrenched abuses as are seen in sweatshops in the developing world.

"Made in LA," a film about garment workers in Los Angeles, documents the struggle of three Latina sweatshop workers as they bravely stand up to demand basic labor protections that should be available to them by law.

The film is an incredibly powerful reminder--not just of the existence of U.S. sweatshops--but of the equalizing effect that unions can have in the epic battle between workers and retail giants. These giants (Forever 21, in the case of the "Made in LA" workers) have the luxury of turning a blind eye to exploitation in their subcontractor factories, because they technically don't own the factory. 

That, however, is a poor excuse. The biggest reason why factory owners exploit their workers is that the price paid to them by retailers is so incredibly low.

Is this a government enforcement problem? Well, yes and no. Even if the government somehow came up with the funds for a ten-fold expansion of labor law enforcement, sweatshops would persist, because they can close down and spring up again virtually overnight, under a different name. Also, since sweatshops are an industry norm and not an exception, the government would be bogged down by having to prosecute violations in virtually every factory it visits.

Instead of enforcing the law factory by factory, it would be much more efficient to hold retailers responsible for what happens in subcontractor factories. Retailers make the big profits, and they are the ones, ultimately, with the power to end the abuses and bring justice to the industry.

Until retail corporations are held liable for sweatshop conditions, unions are the best and often the only tool that workers have to bring their exploitation into the light where there is a chance, at least, for resolution to the most serious abuses. "Made in LA" does an amazing job of demonstrating how essential it is for workers to be able to organize. You can't walk away from the film believing that any of these workers could have made any headway alone against the factory or against Forever 21.

The action items for today's blog entry are 1) to watch the film tonight on PBS and 2) look for ways to support unions, including searching EthixMerch.com for union made logo items for your organization, school, event, or business.