A bill to prevent wage theft in the apparel industry in Los Angeles failed to come up for a vote before the midnight deadline during the chaotic final hours of this year’s legislative session in the United States. The bill by Senator Maria Elena Durazo (Los Angeles) would have required apparel factories to pay garment workers an hourly wage and allow paying by the piece only as an incentive bonus.
It would have also made fashion brands and retailers liable for any wage theft for contracts to have clothing manufactured for them even if workers were shortchanged by third-party subcontractors, according to US media reports.A bill to prevent wage theft in the apparel industry in Los Angeles failed to come up for a vote before the midnight deadline during the chaotic final hours of this year's legislative session in the United States. The bill would have required apparel factories to pay garment workers an hourly wage and allow paying by the piece only as an incentive bonus.#
The bill needed to clear the lower house and then return to the Senate because of a number of amendments made by the Assembly Appropriations Committee, but it failed to come up for a vote on the assembly floor before time ran out on the session, which had been upended in the spring by the coronavirus outbreak.
Durazo has not yet decided whether to introduce the bill again next year or try to achieve its aims administratively, according to a spokesperson for the senator.
“I’m disheartened that SB1399 did not prevail in the final hours of the legislative session. 2020 has not been the best year. As we regroup to plan for the upcoming legislative session, our commitment to garment workers will continue to be a priority, because every day wage theft continues to cheat workers out of their pay and while workers continue to be paid by the piece, they continue to earn on average five dollars an hour,” Durazo said in a statement.
The legislation prompted strong opposition by leading trade associations, who said it would harm Los Angeles’ already-diminished fashion industry.
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