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La Mode workers get 45-day reprieve
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Posted on Jun 13 2005
The Department of Labor has given the displaced workers of the defunct La Mode Inc. additional 45 days to seek new employment in the Commonwealth.
Initially, the over 300 workers had been given only until today to find a new employer.
But in an administrative order addressing a motion for reconsideration filed by the Federal Ombudsman’s Office on behalf of the workers, Labor hearing officer Maya Kara maintained that the initial 45-day period might not be enough for the workers to transfer to a new employer.
“It now appears that, given the uncertain state of the garment industry in the Commonwealth, the flooding of a limited job market by hundreds of workers, and the fact that this action is still ongoing, this may be an insufficient length of time,” Kara said.
The extension will expire on July 29, 2005.
In her June 10 order, Kara said she expected the rate of hiring to increase, with the Labor Department’s recent determination to reallocate the garment labor pool and allow manufacturers to increase their cap by hiring displaced workers from La Mode and other defunct factories.
The two other companies that have ceased operations since the beginning of this year are Sako Corp. and Mariana Fashions Inc.
In an interview Friday, acting Labor secretary Dean Tenorio said about 200 of the estimated 1,000 displaced workers had been repatriated so far.
Tenorio also disclosed that the department would be meeting with garment manufacturers today to discuss the procedures they have to follow in hiring the displaced workers still on island.
“Garment rules are very specific. We just want to clarify the procedures to the employers and the workers as well,” said Tenorio.
He added that one factory had expressed interest in employing a large number of the workers. But he refused to name the company pending the completion of the hiring process.
The Labor Department heard the La Mode case on April 28 and 29.
Pursuant to the hearing, the Hearing Office issued an order allowing the workers to transfer by July 13 and resolving all wage claims, except for those disputed by specific employees. The order also provided for repatriation of workers unwilling or unable to avail themselves of the transfer relief.
