LA and South Gate American Apparel workers halted work in protest

Los Angeles - Amidst exiting bankruptcy and moving forward to new developments in the company, American Apparel is experience an employee protest. Although the Los Angeles-based company may be revamping, the internal operations are undergoing mayhem.

Three factory employees were suspended due to a work stoppage this past Friday on February 26. These suspensions caused approximately 50 workers to gather outside the company for a protest rally. At 9 a.m. on Friday morning, employees and union officials stepped away from their machines and halted work at American Apparel’s downtown Los Angeles headquarters. Additionally, employees also stopped working at the company’s South Gate manufacturing plant at the same time. There were a reported number of 755 workers at South Gate that stopped working, as reported by WWD.

The protest from the two manufacturing plants were due to a myriad of reasons. The employees complaints including pay wages, changes in the product process, and lack of transparency and information from the management. “We want them to explain [to] us what they’re going to do for the future,” Jose Franco, a worker at the South Gate plant, told WWD. Franco participated in the ongoing protest this past Friday.

American Apparel workers unite in protest due to management

Currently, the company is still undergoing transformations to make the retailer more profitable. However, there have still been some major changes recently. Martin Bailey recently resigned from the company to start his own business earlier this month. Also, the company’s Hawthorne dye house closed prior to that as well. In order to continue onward with their reorganization plan, American Apparel will have to figure out a way to satisfy its employees and stop the current protests.