U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D–N.Y.) on Sept. 14 announced the re-introduction of her labor bill, the Fashioning Accountability and Building Real Institutional Change (FABRIC) Act. The FABRIC Act would protect nearly 100,000 American garment workers and help “revitalize” the garment industry in the U.S. by improving working conditions and reforming the piece-rate pay scale, Gillibrand’s […]
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D–N.Y.) on Sept. 14 announced the re-introduction of her labor bill, the Fashioning Accountability and Building Real Institutional Change (FABRIC) Act.
The FABRIC Act would protect nearly 100,000 American garment workers and help “revitalize” the garment industry in the U.S. by improving working conditions and reforming the piece-rate pay scale, Gillibrand’s office contended in its announcement.
The Democrat senator says women are leaders in the cut-and-sew apparel manufacturing industry, making up 67 percent of workers. Following heavy job losses for women during the pandemic, investing in these workers is “crucial” for the future of the industry, Gillibrand stipulates.
U.S. Representative Jerry Nadler (NY–12) leads this legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“For far too long, garment workers in the once-bustling American apparel manufacturing industry have been exploited and overlooked,” Gillibrand said in a news release. “The popularization of the fast fashion business model has perpetuated abuse of an already underpaid and overworked workforce, promoting profits over people, overconsumption, and rampant wage theft. From designers to workers, women, people of color, and immigrants shoulder this burden. I’m reintroducing the FABRIC Act, a one-of-a-kind federal bill to thread the needle of protecting workers’ rights, putting an end to the misuse of piece-rate pay, and making historic investments in domestic garment manufacturing. It’s time to take bold action at the federal level to change the fabric of the American garment manufacturing industry so we can protect these vital workers and not only make American, but buy American.”
This legislation has received technical assistance from the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division and legal experts at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Gillibrand’s office noted.
Proposal specifics
The FABRIC Act would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to create a new set of labor protections for workers in the garment industry “designed to curb many of the abuses inherent to industry bad actors.”
The protections include creating a new $50 million per year domestic garment manufacturing support program that the U.S. Department of Labor would administer. It would provide grants and technical assistance to help manufacturers address facilities and equipment costs, make safety improvements, and do training and workforce development.
The measure would also prohibit predatory payment-by-piece-rate compensation schemes as base pay where workers are not already paid minimum wage or covered by a collective bargaining agreement, per Gillibrand. Piece-rate pay enables bad actors in the garment industry to avoid paying workers a fair wage, she contends. The bill works to ensure manufacturers provide minimum wage as a pay floor with the option to pay piece rate above and beyond initial wages.
The protections would also include holding brands accountable for the labor practices of their manufacturing partners. This would help increase accountability in the garment industry and “compel major retailers to become allies” in combating workplace violations, per the senator.
The proposal would also create a new undersecretary of labor of the garment industry to oversee enforcement of these provisions as they apply to the industry. It would also create a nationwide garment industry registry to ensure manufacturers and contractors “operate according to these labor standards,” Gillibrand’s office said.