From my post:
Charney and AA haven’t been exactly subtle in expressing their feelings on immigration. This is a company that advertises its manufacturing jobs exclusively on Los Angeles’s 107.1 Super Estrella and other Spanish language media. Yes, the announcer reminds applicants to bring their documents. But the company didn’t do a whole lot to make sure those documents weren’t fake. Then again, neither do the majority of California cash cow industries—agriculture, service, and hospitality, to name a few—nearly all of which rely on undocumented labor.
If you drive up to the AA factory as I did last Friday, you’ll be sure to see bright yellow signs in English and Spanish advertising the warehouse as a “sanctuary.” Half the employees you encounter will be wearing “Legalize LA” gear and many will be immigrants. Because of the slouching economy, the company said it won’t miss the immigrant workers if, after a “reasonable” amount of time to prove their legal status elapses, it’s forced to let them go. But the workers will probably miss American Apparel. Whatever you may think of figurehead Dov Charney, American Apparel is a model for sustainable labor in the US. Charney has built a neo-Marxist celebration of the worker, a happy little world where everybody makes $12/hour, eats subsidized lunches (they even have their own taco truck), has access to exclusive gear, and health benefits. It’s a far cry from the rest of the state.
3rdworldimagineer
