State Settles With Wins Workers
About 240 former Wins of California garment workers in San Francisco will receive approximately $865,132 for more than three months' worth of back wages, according to the State Labor Commissioner's office.
Beginning Oct. 9, the state will issue checks to the workers-most of whom are immigrants who speak only Chinese-for unpaid hours worked from April 30 to August of 2001, said Dean Fryer, spokesman for Art Lujan, the State Labor Commissioner. The workers will receive an average of approximately $3,600 in back wages. The lowest payment to a worker will be $250 and the highest payment will be $10,500, Fryer said.
The Department of Industrial Relations made a motion to acquire the full amount from the state last May. Fryer said the motion was approved by the state legislature a few months back and then signed by Gov. Gray Davis on Sept. 12.
The payment comes from a garment workers fund set up by the State Labor Commissioner to grant workers back pay under special circumstances. Fryer said a portion of annual registration fees paid to the state by garment contractors and manufacturers is earmarked for the workers fund.
Last year, a lock box was set up to hold funds for the workers until all of Wins' creditors paid their balances. It contains more than $400,000, which is being held until a California Bankruptcy Court decides whether or not any of the funds will be distributed to unpaid factors, including GE Capital.
Wins owners Jimmy Quan, Jenny Wong and Anna Wong could not be reached for comment.
The attainment of back wages for the Wins workers represents a powerful victory for several Bay Area workers' advocacy groups, including Oakland-based grass-roots organization Sweatshop Watch and the San Francisco-based Chinese Progressive Association.
quot;We have worked very hard with the state over the past year to ensure that the Wins workers are involved in their case for back wages,quot; said Nikki Bas, co-director of Sweatshop Watch. quot;The collaboration and communication we have established with the State Labor Commissioner in the Wins case sets a good example for future cases involving immigrant workers.quot;
Fryer said the State Labor Commissioner's office would continue its civil case for $2.1 million in penalties and attorneys' fees in California Superior Court in San Francisco. The next hearing is scheduled for May 5, 2003. —Claudia Figueroa
