Sting of New Immigration Law Felt in a Labor-Short County : Garment Makers/Troubles Loom in Stitching a Work Force Together

Local garment manufacturers may have trouble stitching together a work force if enforcement-related troubles increase as many have predicted.

Bernard Ferster, general counsel for the Clothing Manufacturers Assn. of the U.S.A., said that garment makers will face definite difficulty as the new immigration law is enforced. “The clothing industry has traditionally been the industry of first employment for immigrants,” Ferster said. “In areas where there are a great number of recent immigrants, there will be a very marked effect (on the industry).”

Because California’s agriculture and apparel industries traditionally rely heavily on immigrant labor, the EDD is keeping unofficial tabs on changes in the work force since August, said Suzanne Schroeder, an agency spokeswoman.

“It changes all the time,” Schroeder said, “but basically what we have found out . . . is that we have more job openings (in the garment industry) listed in our offices than we have had in prior years.”

One factor contributing to the increase in job listings is enforcement of the immigration law, Schroeder said.

But an organizer for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union contends that his organization has “not seen a big shrinkage in the labor pool at all.”

“We feel a lot of the shrinkage reported is an orchestrated political attempt on the part of the contractors to try to amend the law to their benefit,” said Peter Olney, the ILGWU’s organizer in Orange and Los Angeles counties. “Our opinion is that, if the employers paid a living wage--even $4.50 an hour--minimal benefits and some holidays, they would find enough workers to work in their shops.”

Still, some clothing manufacturers said they are being forced to change longstanding practices, such as hiring and training inexperienced workers, in response to the law.

And several have applied to the Department of Labor for so-called guest-worker permits. Such applications are necessary for workers to receive temporary work visas to enter the country, and they are only given to “workers in short supply,” said Paul Nelson, a certifying officer for the agency.

Alan Yudelman, president of an Orange County contract sewing business that employs about 65 workers, said his usual employee turnover rate of 5% has nearly tripled since enforcement began. As a result, Yudelman said, “by the end of the year we will have to increase pay, probably 10% to 15%.”

“It’s a matter of supply and demand, and the excess in demand (for workers) will make the salaries go up,” Yudelman said. “It’s likely to lead to a decrease in garment output and an increase in prices to the consumer.”