{"article":{"id":9133,"heading":"Fashion Victims:Inside the Sweat Shops of Los Angeles","author":"Andrew Gumbel","created":"2001-08-05 00:13:13","modified":"2013-11-10 23:38:25","last_modified":"Mon, 11 Nov 2013 06:38:25","article":"<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>&amp;S<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>\n","contact":"","link":"http:\/\/www.commondreams.org","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"And yet it is almost entirely hidden from public view. The 160,000 workers who eke out their living here are subject to the whims of employers, who hire and fire them at will. Typically, they are subjected to a regime of rigged time clocks, undeclared overtime, unsanitary workplaces, stifling heat \u2013 and, sometimes, beatings and sexual abuse. Many of them do not know what the minimum wage is, much less receive it.","numcomment":3,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2001\/08\/fashion_vi.txt","filesize":"14.7 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2001\/08\/9133.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":9145,"heading":"This is one hell of an article!","article":"Thank You--Independent, Independent Media and others","author":"PH","parent_id":9133,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2001-08-05 11:23:53","modified":"2001-08-05 12:00:01","fileurl":""},{"id":9150,"heading":"inspection","article":"Recently, the Garment Workers' center and three other groups called for an increase in the budget to improve enforcement of existing labor laws.  Only around 450 inspectors are charged with maintaining conditions for over 19 million workers.  The budget was allocated at half of the $5 million that the activists demanded, so, this situation will continue for some time in the future.\r\n\r\nIt's bad for the workers, and it's also bad for the legitimate companies that have to compete against criminals.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe center is at \r\n1250 S.Los Angeles Ave., Suite 206  (at Pico)\r\n(213) 748-5866.\r\n","author":"johnk of imc","parent_id":9133,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2001-08-05 16:45:44","modified":"2001-08-05 17:00:02","fileurl":""},{"id":9210,"heading":"phenomenal","article":"Thanks for the article. It's an eye-openner, especially if you been to LA and never noticed the area. Great work.","author":"pedro","parent_id":9133,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2001-08-09 09:30:48","modified":"2001-08-09 10:00:04","fileurl":""}]}