El Monte sweatshop tip letter, 1995

Object Details

Description

On August 2, 1995, police officers raided a fenced seven-unit apartment complex in El Monte, California. They arrested eight operators of a clandestine garment sweatshop and freed 72 workers who were being forced to sew garments in virtual captivity. Smuggled from Thailand into the United States, the laborers’ plight brought a national spotlight to domestic sweatshop production and resulted in increased enforcement by federal and state labor agencies. The publicity of the El Monte raid also put added pressure on the apparel industry to reform its labor and business practices domestically and internationally.

Location

Currently not on view

Credit Line

State of California. Department of Industrial Relations. Division of Labor Standards Enforcement

1995

ID Number

1996.0292.42b

catalog number

1996.0292.42b

accession number

1996.0292

Object Name

letter

Physical Description

paper (overall material)

Measurements

overall: 10 7/8 in x 8 1/2 in; 27.6225 cm x 21.59 cm

place made

United States: California

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Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering

El Monte

Work

Sweatshops

National Museum of American History

Record ID

nmah_1441603

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b4-8b5f-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa