A coalition of community and social service organizations in Chicago is calling for the creation of a task force to investigate alleged labor violations in the workplace.
Sweatshops are not a vestige of the past and are not only found in garment districts in New York or Los Angeles, said community, labor and immigrant advocates during a conference Friday at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
The results of a new study, “Sweatshops in Chicago,” was discussed, and a panel of immigrants who claim to have suffered workplace abuses also spoke during the one-day conference.
Duoc Ly, an immigrant from Vietnam, said he was not allowed to take any breaks while working 12-hour days, seven days a week at a suburban printing company. “I was at the machine all the time,” said Ly, 29, who said he even ate while standing next to the printing machines.
Ly said he lost his job shortly after he seriously burned his legs in a work accident and was hospitalized. “I could not do the same job. I cannot stand for more than an hour at a time,” Ly said.
Marta Esquivel, an immigrant from Mexico, said she worked under strenuous conditions in a tortilla factory in Chicago. She said the doors were locked, preventing an emergency exit, and that in the summer there were no fans and in the winter no heat.
“They wouldn’t even give us permission to go to the bathroom,” said Esquivel, 39, who lost her job in June.
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Esquivel said she was fired after missing a day of work because her baby-sitter did not show up.
Neither Ly nor Esquivel wanted to publicize the names of their former employers. Many immigrant workers say fear of retaliation or deportation are some of the reasons they are reluctant to report workplace problems to government agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Labor.
Labor Department officials participating in the conference said they encourage community organizations to help immigrants report workplace violations. There are protections for workers regardless of their immigration status, they said.