Labor Issue News

1.13.09
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) its interim final rule to streamline the Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9) process. Employers must use the revised Form I-9 for all new hires and re-verify any employee with an expiring employment authorization beginning February 2. The Handbook for Employers, Instructions for Completing the Form I-9 (M-274) will be updated to reflect these changes and will be available on the web site in the near future.

12.06.08
On November 14, the General Services Administration (GSA) a final rule, effective January 15, 2009, requiring Federal contractors to verify employees' immigration status. For contracts that exceed $100,000, the new rule requires contractors to enroll in the DHS E-verify system and use E-verify to verify the immigration status of all employees assigned to the contract.

12.06.08
According to the US Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics 5 release of November 2008 (October 2008 for wholesale apparel trade and footwear) employment figures, US total apparel manufacturing employment followed a 3.2 percent decline in October with a less severe but still significant 1.1 percent drop to 187,900 employees in November. The November employment number was 9.2 percent lower than in November 2007. US apparel wholesale trade employment fell by 0.8 to 151,800 in October and was 3.1 percent lower than in October 2007. Bucking the overall trend, October US footwear manufacturing employment grew 2.0 percent to 15,400 from the previous month and was only 1.3 percent lower than in October 2007, the best year-on-year reading in more than 18 years. US textile mill (yarn, fabric, etc.) employment dropped 3.7 percent to 141,900 in November and was 13.9 percent lower than in November 2007. For its part, US textile product mill (sheets, blankets, towels, curtains, auto/furniture upholstery, etc.) employment went down by 1.1 percent in November to 145,600 and was 7.1 percent lower than in November 2007. Overall US labor market conditions deteriorated further in November, with total non-farm employment declining by 533,000 workers (a 34-year high) on a seasonally-adjusted basis and the unemployment rate increasing from 6.5 percent to 6.7 percent. Please note that the manufacturing figures include total employment (distribution, management, sales & marketing, R&D, administrative, etc., as well as production workers) at all US apparel, footwear and textile manufacturers.

10.14.08
On October 3, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) formally ratified a new six-year labor contract for all West Coast ports. The contract went into effect on October 4.

09.08.08
AAFA, the National Retail Federation (NRF), Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and the United States Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel (USA-ITA) sent a letter August 15 to Uzbekistan President Islam Abduganievich Karimov urging the Uzbek government to take decisive and immediate action to end the use of forced child labor in its cotton fields. The associations also sent letters to the International Labor Organization (ILO), the US government and their counterpart organizations in Canada and Europe urging them to work to end forced child labor in Uzbekistan. The associations noted that many US brands and retailers have already taken steps to ban the use of Uzbek cotton in their products and that many more would likely follow suit if no action is taken soon by the Uzbek government to address the issue.

07.21.08
While on July 11, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) reported some isolated incidents of small decreases in productivity at terminals of Tacoma and in southern California, work at ports along the West Coast have maintained normal levels, despite the delay in ratifying a new contract. PMA and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) negotiators are still hashing out the final details of the labor agreement. It remains unclear when it might be ratified, as negotiators remain tight-lipped about the proceedings to date.

07.14.08
Negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) continued last week without resolution. Last month, both sides agreed to a benefits package and are now discussing remaining issues.

While the longshore workforce rejected a proposal in the first week of July by PMA to formally extend the current contract, work at the ports continues on a day-to-day basis with no reported slowdowns or issues at this time.

06.23.08
On June 17, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) agreed on a final benefits package. Negotiations will now continue on other substantial items. While the current contract is set to expire on July 1, both sides have said that they will have a new contract before that deadline. If they are unable to meet that deadline, mechanisms are in place to extend the current contract.

06.09.08
The US Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) held a hearing May 28 as a follow-up to its December 27, 2007 publication of the final procedures for developing a list of the products and countries where there is evidence of child and/or forced labor. The only topic mentioned during the hearing that affected the footwear and apparel industries was the issue of the use of child forced labor in the production of cotton in Uzbekistan. AAFA submitted comments to ILAB last fall citing numerous problems with the then proposed procedures. Regrettably, most of AAFA’s comments and concerns were not addressed in the final procedures. While the publication of the list is tentatively slated for January 2009, the final timing remains unclear.

01.07.08
Despite serious concerns expressed by AAFA and others regarding its initial proposal, the US Department of Labor (Labor) on December 27 issued Final Procedural Guidelines for the Development and Maintenance of the List of Goods From Countries Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor and formally requested submissions from the public on which products/countries should be included in the proposed blacklist. The guidelines are virtually unchanged from the proposed guidelines Labor issued last fall. The guidelines do not state when the proposed child labor/forced labor blacklist will be published. Public submissions for use in the development of the list are due March 26.

Labor Issues News Archive