Garment Glamour. Garment Gloom.

Garment Glamour & Garment Gloom.
Reflections on the Hidden Side of Fashion Week

The Glitz & the Gloom In a few months, the fashion world will once again be aglitter as models strut, designers bow, photographers click, celebrities mingle, and the rest of the world watches in rapt envy the spectacle known as Fashion Week. For seven days (February 11 through February 18, 2010), in the world's fashion capital of New York, the industry's elite, the media's, and thus our attention too, turns to the glitz side of garments. Eight thousand miles away on a little island in the Pacific, a young woman turns her attention on the nine years she spent as a garment factory worker, toiling 14-hour days, sleeping on bamboo mattresses, enduring verbal abuse from monitors, living in cramped living quarters, suffering back pain, and more--an experience documented in her book, Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin:Diary of a Chinese Garment Factory Girl on Saipan. Yes, garment factories. It's the not-much-talked-about gloomy side of the fashion industry that gets the occasional headline, the brief spike in public interest and then, all too predictably, a return to the status quo. The Formula & the Fight That status quo is based on a simple formula: produce garments at the lowest possible cost, in order to make the greatest possible profit. That simple formula is part of a bigger picture of jobs, opportunity, human rights. Workers in countries with higher minimum wages, like the United States, lament the loss of garment manufacturing jobs to countries with lower wages like Vietnam and Mexico. Meanwhile, human rights activists lobby and fight on behalf of presumably exploited workers in those countries, securing better work conditions and higher wages. The Contradiction & the Coverup There have been successes in these efforts. Saipan the capital island of the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is a perfect example. Saipan was home to a once-thriving garment industry which, at its height, hosted 36 factories which employed over 15,000 contract workers (mostly women from China, Thailand, the Philippines and other Pacific islands), generated (taxes of) $40 million/year for the CNMI government, and $994 million in annual exports to the world. After years of bad press about labor abuses, disgraced lobbyists, political corruption,and coverup, Saipan's labor and immigration laws have now been federalized and on their wayto US mainland standards. Federalization has resulted in higher wages for contract workers on the island. However, those same higher wages resulted in lower profits for the garment factories who then ceased operations and moved elsewhere depriving those same workers of the opportunity to earn what was considerably more than they earned in their home countries. The Starving & the Stars "Saipan's is a fascinating story, but much remains hidden about what things were really like here, and what they continue to be like in other countries," says Walt Goodridge, freelance columnistfor the Saipan Tribune, and editor of Chun Yu Wang's book, Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin, the only first-hand account of the life of a Chinese garment factory worker on Saipan. "Opinions vary among those on the outside, but most workers here on the inside felt it was a benefit to earn the moneythey did." Told directly in her own words--Chicken Feathers is simple, yet full of profound insights, and comes from an entirely untainted viewpoint. It is a directly transcribed account, told without the bias of reporters, journalists, case workers, human rights activists or western worldviews. "It's not a black and white issue," Goodridge adds. "You can't simply call it good or bad, because you can't really appreciate all the contradictions without hearing the workers' side of the story." "Fashion Week will come and go, but the situations these young women are going through willcontinue, at least for the foreseeable future. You can't really appreciate the glamour on stage, without a fuller understanding of the gloom behind the scenes. Not to take anything away from the models, but perhaps you might change--or at least include the workers, too--in your perception of who the real stars are in this story."

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Further Reading/Research:
www.Saipanfactoryfacts.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweatshop
www.saipanfactorygirl.com

Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin: Diary of a Chinese Factory Girl on Saipan

It took a lot of courage for a 25-year-old girl from Wu Xi City in Jiang Shu province, China, who had never flown on a plane, and who had never left home before, to travel 2,000 miles to a foreign country in search of work. It took even more courage to stay once she discovered what life was really like for a factory girl on the island of Saipan in the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).

Had she made the greatest mistake of her life? Like many girls, she came with dreams of a better future. Yes, the pay was better than in China, but at what price? Would the high pressure of 15-hour quota-driven days of tedious, mind and finger-numbing work get to her? Or would the greedy floor monitors, and scam-artists preying on lonely, naive women rob her not just of her income, but of her innocence as well? At every turn, there were wolves ahead and tigers behind that threatened her dreams of happiness. Could she learn Saipan's secret factory system and get ahead before she lost it all? Could she save money, save fave, and return to China better off? Would she even want to, given the real reason she left China in the first place?

Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin is Chun Yu Wang’s eight-year journey. It is an inspiring and enlightening tale of determination, disappointment, justice, and triumph, and the only known first-hand account of a Saipan factory girl’s life.

Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin is told in her own words—simple, yet full of profound insights, and from an entirely untainted perspective. It is a directly transcribed account, told without the bias of reporters, journalists, case workers, human rights activists or western worldviews. Chun Yu’s words reveal a natural storyteller’s love of the art, and an attention to detail that makes Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin a rare, emotional, memorable experience you’ll want to share again and again.
[END BACK COPY OF BOOK]

[ADDITIONAL]
We wear the clothes. We read an occasional story of worker exploitation in third world countries,
but then the reality fades. The nameless, faceless workers who fill the factories toiling long days to sew,
assemble and hem clothes for western tastes fade from our consciousness. Until now.

Ever wonder what it's really like to work in a garment factory?
Ever wanted to know more about those factory girls in news photos working hard behind sewing machines?
Where do they come from? What sorts of lives have they left behind? What sorts of lives do they lead now?
How much money do they really make and keep? Are they happy? sad? What do they really think about the work, their factories, themselves?
Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin is one story of one young lady among the the tens of thousands who, even right now,
are working long, hard hours to earn wages to help better their lives, and the lives of their families.

Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin answers those questions, bringing to life a worldview, a way of life, a work ethic, dreams
and aspirations that many of us rarely get a chance to experience.

Last Garment Factory Soon to Close on Saipan, CNMI (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: US CONTACT: 646 219-3565

Subject line: Jan 15, 2009: Last Garment Factory Soon to Close on Saipan, CNMI (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands)

Last Garment Factory Soon to Close on Saipan, CNMI
Closure marks end of controversial era on US commonwealth

Saipan, CNMI—Almost twenty-six years after the first one opened in October, 1983, the last garment factory on the US territory of Saipan will close its doors January 31, 2009*, ending a controversy-plagued era on this island in the Western Pacific.

Saipan was home to a once-thriving garment industry which, at its height, hosted 36 factories which employed over 15,000 contract workers (mostly women from China, and many from Thailand, Philippines and other Pacific Islands), generated (taxes) of $40 million/year for the CNMI government, and $994 million in annual exports to the world.

“It’s a fascinating story, but much remains hidden about what things were really like here,” says Walt Goodridge, columnist for the Saipan Tribune, and editor of Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin: Diary of a Chinese Factory Girl, the only known first-hand account of the (8-year) experience of a Chinese garment factory worker on Saipan. “Opinions vary, but most workers feel it was a benefit to earn the money they did. When the Uno Moda closes in a few days, it will mark a significant turning point for the island’s now primarily tourist-based economy,” Goodridge added.

Saipan’s unique relationship with the US allowed manufacturers to have “made in the USA” labels on garments sewn there, while benefiting from lower costs and a non-US regulated working wage paid to a mostly female, non-resident workforce. As the trade tarrifs lifted, conditions became less profitable, and factories began leaving Saipan for other profit-friendly regions.

In 2006, a Ms. Magazine article with allegations of labor abuse, corruption, and cover-up, along with class-action suits against factories, turned the media spotlight on Saipan, and government official complicity, and has tainted the island’s image with associations to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

"Out with the old. In with the new!"
Many hope Pres. Bush’s recent designation of the world’s 3rd largest “no-take” marine monument which includes the nearby Mariana Trench will launch a new image and a new era of industries for the island as this one passes.

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Visit SaipanFactoryFacts.org for a 25-year industry timeline, income statistics, important milestones, dates of closures and a complimentary excerpt from Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin.

*Other media reports of dates of closure differ from what is actually happening here at "ground zero" on Saipan.
Uno Moda is the only factory still in operation, with workers reporting to work each day. Workers at Uno Moda have told us that the last day they will actually be sewing and packing is January 15th. Contact info@SaipanFactoryFacts.org for up-to-date information and/or to request a video of last day.


Saipan Factory Facts
PO Box 503991
Saipan, MP 96950