Many Latino and Chinese women who immigrated to New York City over
the past several decades found work in the garment industry-an
industry well known for both hiring immigrants and its harsh
working conditions. In the 1990s, the garment industry was one of
the largest immigrant employers in New York City and workers in
Chinese- and Korean-owned factories produced 70 percent of all
manufactured clothing in New York City. Based on extensive
interviews with workers and employers, Margaret M. Chin offers a
detailed and complex portrait of the work lives of Chinese and
Latino garment workers. Chin, whose mother and aunts worked in
Chinatown's garment industry, also explores how immigration status,
family circumstances, ethnic relations, and gender affect the
garment industry workplace. In turn, she analyzes how these factors
affect whom employers hire and what wages and benefits are given to
the employees. Chin's study contrasts the working conditions and
hiring practices of Korean- and Chinese-owned factories. Her
comparison of the two practices illuminates how ethnic ties both
improve and hinder opportunities for immigrants. While both sectors
take advantage of workers and are characterized by low wages and
lax enforcement of safety regulations-there are crucial
differences. In the Chinese sector, owners encourage employees,
almost entirely female, to recruit new workers, especially friends
and family. Though Chinese workers tend to be documented and
unionized, this work arrangement allows owners to maintain a more
paternalistic relationship with their employees. Gender also plays
a major role in channeling women into the garment industry, as
Chinese immigrants, particularly those with children, tend to
maintain traditional gender roles in the workplace. Korean-owned
shops, however, hire mostly undocumented Mexican and Ecuadorian
workers, both male and female. These workers tend not to have
children and are thus less tied to traditional gender roles. Unlike
their Chinese counterparts, Korean employers hire workers on their
own terms and would rather not allow current employees to influence
their decisions. Chin's work also provides an overview of the
history of the garment industry, examines immigration strategies,
and concludes with a discussion of changes in the industry in the
aftermath of 9/11.
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