S.F. Garment Workers to Collect Severance Pay
San Francisco–based manufacturer Nova Knits Inc. agreed last week to pay $500,000 in severance compensation to more than 100 garment workers who were laid off from the company with an hour’s notice last year.
The workers argued that Nova’s layoffs violated the U.S. Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires employers to provide 60 days’ notice prior to closing a plant or conducting mass layoffs. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors sided with the workers and passed a resolution urging Nova to comply with the WARN Act.
Nova’s laid-off workers also pressured the company with marches through downtown San Francisco, protests outside retailers selling the factory’s garments and threats to picket outside the home of Nova’s chief executive. Officials at the company declined to comment.
According to the Chinese Progressive Association, a group dedicated to the living and working conditions of low-income immigrants, the settlement is enough to give each laid-off worker the equivalent of 60 days’ pay.
Nova produces apparel for major labels, including Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, Liz Claiborne and Talbots. —Erin Barajas
