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Political Drama in the Garment Center
By admins | September 3, 2009
It’s a busy time in the New York City political arena, and Bloomberg is not the only man under fire. John Liu who is running for City Comptroller, is in the midst of a Garment Center scandal. In case you missed the TV ads, they begin by featuring a young John Liu as the narrator tells us how his parents moved to America and had him working in sweatshops by age 7. It is a heart wrenching immigrant story on the dark side of our industry, playing out for political gain.
However, where things get really interesting is when the Daily News got ahold of this story and denounced it as counterfeit. According to the Daily News, Liu’s mother admitted that never in all her years working in the garment industry did she ever work in a sweatshop nor did her son. Since the story broke both sides of the argument have wavered a bit and others have come forward with versions of their own story. John Liu has decided to directly address the people of NYC and especially his supporters by issuing the following letter.
So what’s your take, another politician spinning the truth to gain support of the labor leaders? Or the all to common history of immigrants taken advantage of and ashamed of their past as sweatshop laborers.
Dear Friend,
We all know that sweatshops exist – even in our modern ethical society
- but no one talks openly about it, especially not people who have
worked in factories. And many people, including journalists, simply
do not understand how these illegal industries operate.
Today’s Daily news article (text in-full at end of message), “City
controller hopeful John Liu touts youth in sweatshop – only family
says it never happened”, is a case-in-point.
What began as a profile suddenly turned into a misleading piece of
‘gotcha’ journalism. A reporter asked for an interview with my
parents to talk about my childhood, and we gave her unfettered access.
My mom was very reluctant and embarrassed to talk about her
experience working in the garment industry.
After the interview, the reporter asked me for a paystub to prove I
actually worked in the factory. We attempted to explain to the
journalist how sweatshops actually work. Unfortunately, we were
unable to dislodge her preconceived ideas about how illegal practices
in the garment industry work.
Not all sweatshops look like a scene from ‘Norma Rae’ or other
Hollywood movies, with people toiling in neat rows in a factory
setting. These factories do exist, but in addition, some sweatshops
use overseas labor involving children as young as 6 years old. Others
- including the one my mother worked in – combined factory hours with
home-based piece work to maximize the exploitation and squeeze the
most out of workers: even after leaving the factory, the work never
ends.
Equally important for sweatshop owners are the weapons of intimidation
and shame, which keep parents from admitting they have involved their
own children in unlawful work situations.
For my parents and so many Asian parents, having worked in a sweatshop
is a shameful past and people choose to bury those memories. It’s
time we brought them out in the open and let people tell their stories
without being subjected to cynical attacks.
35 years ago, I worked with my mom – inside a sweatshop and at home.
For me, it’s not a shameful past. I make no apology for the work
ethic I gained from toiling away many hours in a factory, and I remain
as committed as ever to exposing and ending the sweatshop system.
I am running for Comptroller based on my record of accomplishments and
my fiscal expertise and my vision for what the Office can do. I am
also running to expand opportunity for the millions of New Yorkers who
don’t have a job as well as those who work in sweatshops in the
retail, restaurant, laundry and many, many other industries.
Sincerely,
John C. Liu
Here is more related scoop;
Topics: garment center, new york | 4 Comments » 
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September 3rd, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Wow what an interesting story! It does seem kinda silly for that reporter to ask for a paystub – if you were hiring workers under illegal pretenses, you wouldn’t exactly give them a financial recording of it now would you. I even know of friends of mine who have been paid under the table to avoid taxes, so it’s not a far stretch to believe his story.
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Hmm, this is a tough one, but I err on the side of cynical during an election season.
September 4th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Very interesting, and so sad that people worked and still work in those conditions.
September 9th, 2009 at 10:14 am
Ugh, everything I’ve heard about him is so shady, I just don’t buy it!
But it could be worse, we could have NJ political scandals!