For the six teenagers making time for a wage theft workshop this week, the issue isn't theoretical. It's personal.
Salma Rojas, a youth organizer for the Garment Worker Center, says these students grow up going to the factories and see the long hours their parents work in poor conditions and think that's normal.
At a workshop Tuesday, the students learned that the garment industry experiences the highest rates of wage theft in Los Angeles.
"It's known as the sweatshop capital of the U.S.," Rojas told the students. "That's a terrible title to have. But fortunately, there are resources to fight against wage theft."
The teens learned about overtime, wage theft and how to collect evidence to establish a wage theft claim.
"Knowledge is power," Rojas said. "The more they learn, the more they're able to empower themselves, their family members and community members to make changes that will improve the living conditions and working conditions for folks within these industries."
Jessica Chavez, 16, said her father's been a garment worker for more than 10 years. He's talked to Chavez about the piece-rate wages eliminated by SB 62, a 2021 law that gave garment workers hourly wages.
“He can work adequately with a pay that's adequate for him," Chavez said of the hourly wages. "It's more sustainable versus the inconsistent pay he used to have."
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