Oversight board to look into La Mode case

The Garment Oversight Board will convene on Tuesday to look into whether or not a garment firm violated the mandate of a court-approved settlement that ended a class action suit against against garment manufacturers, following the reported work stoppage by nearly 100 workers over alleged nonpayment of wages.

The board has the power to place a garment manufacturer on probation. That status temporarily suspends the manufacturer to accept orders from apparel retailers that are part of the settlement agreement, which was approved by Saipan’s federal court in May 2003.

The scheduled oversight board meeting comes in the heels of an investigation being conducted by the Department of Labor on complaints lodged by the workers against La Mode Inc. The workers demanded payment of back wages with amounts reportedly ranging from $1,500 to $2,000 each.

Oversight board chair Timothy Bellas said the board has conducted monitoring and inspection of garment manufacturers’ compliance or non-compliance with the provisions of the settlement. Bellas refused to reveal the findings of the inspections, but said the board has communicated with La Mode.

La Mode is a party to the settlement, Bellas said. The settlement binds 27 garment firms.

The oversight board regularly conducts inspections on garment firms’ facilities and those of their subcontractors to ensure compliance with some 59 standards set by the settlement agreement in several aspects of their operations, including occupational safety, as well as workers’ living conditions and wages.

The oversight board conducted the first batch of inspections in Oct. 2003.

The oversight board came to existence when U.S. District Court Chief Judge Alex R. Munson approved the $20-million settlement agreement in consolidated class action suits. The settlement set aside $4 million as monitoring fund to prevent the harm previously caused by the industry to the workers.

The Labor Department is dealing with La Mode workers’ complaints “as quickly as possible,” according to its legal counsel, assistant attorney general Kevin Lynch. The Labor’s investigation unit has begun looking into the complaints, according to Lynch.

“If there’s a violation found, these [complaints] will go to a hearing,” Lynch said.

La Mode’s nonresident workforce tallies 302, according to Lynch.

The Labor Department has reportedly allowed several nonresident workers to transfer to other garment factories, amid a possible reduction of La Mode’s worker quota due to alleged financial and operational losses.