Page 9 - qt edition #20

THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022 THE QUEENS TIMES PAGE 9

Senator Gillibrand Announces Groundbreaking Fabric Act to Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar
Reinvigorate The Garment Industry in The U.S. Partners With Mount Sinai Health
System For Free Mammograms at
(Continued from page 7) tracts, as well as rapidly-shifting and beyond initial wages.
and widespread cultural values. • New liability requirements that District Office
The FABRIC Act proposes to The benefits of regulation that will hold fashion brands responsible
address these issues through five reform the piece-rate pay scale and for the labor practices of their (Continued from page 3) woman Rajkumar, who comes
central pillars: champion workplace well-being manufacturing partners to increase from a family of all medical
1. Restructuring pay rates and pro- amount to customer satisfaction. accountability in the garment for us. Since day one, the As- doctors. “My district office is a
viding minimum wage as a floor At the NYFWDC, we recognize industry and compel major retail- semblywoman has been fighting community hub where we take
with productivity incentives on top. that regulation and reform will ul- ers to become allies in combating tirelessly to improve healthcare care of the health and welfare of
2. Establishing new liability timately lead to a more prosperous workplace violations. access in the district.” the community. It is my true pas-
measures that compel major retail- and sustainable fashion industry by The FABRIC Act has garnered “I love my constituents and sion to take care of the people of
ers to become allies in combating which skilled workers are treated endorsements from the AFL-CIO, I am doing all I can for the sake South Queens. It feeds my heart
workplace violations. with dignity, worker retention is UNITE HERE, Workers United, of their health,” said Assembly- every day.”
3. Introducing recordkeeping and achieved through improved condi- SEIU, RWDSU, National Employ-
transparency measures. tions, and industry ethics are at- ment Law Project (NELP), Gar- Mayor Eric Adams to Pace Students: To
4. Incentivizing reshoring. tuned and align with an increasing ment Worker Center, Partners for
5. Creating a domestic garment consumer demand for justice,” said Dignity and Rights, Worker-driven Change The World, You Must Protest
manufacturing grant program Ibada Wadud, founding member of Social Responsibility Network, And Protect
aimed at revitalizing the industry. the New York Fashion Workforce Bet Tzedek Legal Services, Re-
Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Development Coalition and Gov- make, Fashion Revolution, Fashion (Continued from page 6) to be flexible. How to make posi-
Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and ernance Board member. Revolution USA, The Model Al- tive change.”
Cory Booker (D-NJ) are original American garment workers liance, Center for Advancement violence, homelessness, or other Students celebrating this ex-
cosponsors of the FABRIC Act. face the second-highest rate of of Garment Making, The Fashion societal injustices, people must citing achievement were a mix
“It’s time to take bold action wage theft of any group of work- Connection, Skilled Laborers fight for what they think is right. of undergraduate, graduate, law,
at the federal level to change ers in the country. At its peak in Brigade, Sustainable Brooklyn, “Here is my message to gradu- and doctoral students, spanning
the fabric of the American gar- April of 1973, the U.S. apparel Custom Collaborative, The Slow ates: Yes, protest. But then pro- a variety of disciplines and future
ment manufacturing industry. The production industry employed Factory, ICAR, New York Fashion tect,” said Adams. “You are what careers, such as nurses and phy-
United States was once home to a 1.4 million people. This number Workforce Development Coalition, the American Dream is all about sician assistants, cybersecurity
booming apparel manufacturing has steadily declined since. As of Made in NYC, Pratt Center for … As long as you dream. As long experts, lawyers, accountants,
industry, and it’s time to reexamine April 2022, only 93,800 Americans Community Development, New as you fight for what is right, this teachers, performers, and much
how this industry has evolved over were employed in apparel manu- Standard Institute, the co-lab, country will be the country we more. After the main event, cer-
the past 50 years and change how facturing. Today, apparel imports Holly Getty, Honor, Kamrin Hu- want it to be.” emonies took place throughout
we treat our workers,” said Sena- from China to the United States ban, DC Sustainable Fashion Col- ”All of us are imperfect,” he the day and across the USTA
tor Gillibrand. “From designers are over 10 times higher than 30 lective, Circular Services Group, continued. “All of us are trying. Billie Jean King National Tennis
to managers to workers, women years ago, and between 1995 and California College of Arts Fashion All of us are fighting for the Center. A DJ entertained students
overwhelmingly play a leading 2020, China gained an estimated Design, GCNYC, Pratt Institute, America we want.” and their families in a celebratory
role in this important industry. 1.25 million jobs in apparel and Fashion Design, Fair Trade LA, The ceremony marked the first atmosphere.
However, garment workers in the apparel-adjacent manufacturing Mara Hoffman, Reformation, time that Pace held a combined During the main ceremony,
United States are often underpaid, while the U.S. lost roughly 700,000 Another Tomorrow, Argent, New commencement for graduates Pace awarded members of the
overworked, and put in unsafe jobs. The U.S. garment industry York Embroidery Studio, Hickey from its campuses in New York New York City and Westchester
conditions. Protecting the garment now loses out on approximately Freeman, Mi Jong Lee, Maven City, Pleasantville and from its communities who exemplify the
workforce is a sustainability issue $30 billion annually that is instead Women, INDIGENOUS, Can- Elisabeth Haub School of Law in Pace motto of Opportunitas, or
and has direct impacts on environ- imported from China. To fix this, tiqLA, Open Studios, Faherty, White Plains. Students from the creating opportunities for people,
mental sustainability, community the FABRIC Act has dual goals: 1) Thrilling, Swap Society, Ethix Classes of 2020 and 2021, who with the Opportunitas in Action
development, gender equality and protecting and improving working Merch, Senza Tempo, ZYEM were not able to have a traditional Award. Marco Damiani, CEO of
economic prosperity. This legisla- conditions for garment workers; NYC, Jacques Louis, The Choco- celebration due to pandemic- AHRC NYC, the largest organi-
tion would thread the needle of and 2) rejuvenating the garment late Cosmos, Johnathan Hayden, related restrictions, participated zation in New York dedicated to
protecting workers’ rights, putting industry in the United States. Kindom, ThredUp, Maybelle in what was the largest ceremony supporting people who are neuro-
an end to abusive pay rates, and Specifically, the FABRIC Act NYC, Nisolo, EcoFashionCorp, in the history of the University. diverse and helping them to lead
ensuring equitable compensation amends the Fair Labor Standards Ferrara Manufacturing, SAITEX, In addition to Mayor Adams full and equitable lives, was New
for garment workers, while also Act of 1938 to create a historic new Botanical Colors, Made X Hudson, receiving a Doctor of Humane York City’s honoree.
making historic investments in set of labor protections for workers Sew Co., Rite of Passage, Alex Letters, honoris causa, degree Joseph Kenner, CEO of
domestic garment manufacturing in the garment industry designed to Crane, Wing & Weft Gloves, Lizzie during the main ceremony, Con- Greyston, a pioneering organiza-
so we can not only make American, curb many of the abuses inherent Fortunato Jewels, Reid Miller, Tact gresswoman Grace Meng re- tion that unlocks the power of
but buy American.” to industry bad actors, including: & Stone, Timberlake Studios, Tri- ceived a Doctor of Laws, honoris human potential through Open
“Senator Gillibrand’s FAB- • A prohibition on predatory archy, Fibershed, Upcycle It Now, causa, degree at the ceremony for Hiring—a process that is open to
RIC Act will reinvigorate the payment-by-piece-rate compensa- Nana Atelier, Transparentem, Toit the Elisabeth Haub School of Law. anyone who wants to work, with-
garment industry in the U.S. by tion schemes as base pay for work- Volant, Et Tigre, MINIMALIST, Baroness Ariane de Rothschild out background checks, resumes,
strengthening garment workers’ ers, which are a traditional means and Everlane. ‘88 MBA ‘90, also received a or interviews – was Westchester’s
rights and driving wage growth, by which bad actors in the garment This legislation has received Doctor of Humane Letters degree, honoree. For over 40 years at its
while promoting equity. It’s time industry avoid paying a fair wage technical assistance from the De- honoris causa, from the Lubin world-renowned Greyston Bak-
that industry leaders understand to their workers. The bill works partment of Labor Wage & Hour school of Business. Both Meng ery in Yonkers —which makes
the financial and business risks to ensure manufacturers provide Division and legal experts at the and de Rothschild addressed the brownies included in Ben &
associated with unsafe working minimum wage as a pay floor, with Cornell University School of In- graduates at their respective cer- Jerry’s products and packaged
conditions and shoddy labor con- the option to pay piece rate above dustrial and Labor Relations. emonies. brownies for Whole Foods Mar-
“Graduates, my message to ket—Kenner’s organization has
Gillibrand Calls For President Biden to Invoke The Defense you today is simple,” said Pace offered jobs to hundreds of people
President Marvin Krislov. “I want who otherwise faced obstacles to
Production Act to Urgently Address Baby Formula Shortage you to remember that change is employment.
inevitable. Nothing is forever. As In her remarks to students,
a 2020 graduate told me when Victoria Rooney, a graduate of
Gillibrand: “No Family in Supplemental Nutrition Program future supply chain disruptions. she watched her final semester Dyson College of Arts and Sci-
America Should Ever Be Con- for Women, Infants, and Children Gillibrand is also a cosponsor turn remote: tomorrow is not ences, noted the uniqueness of the
cerned They Cannot Feed Their (WIC), Gillibrand leads the an- of the Supply Chain Resiliency guaranteed.” past few years, and said regardless
Children. Corporate Greed and nual effort to fully fund WIC Act, which would help alleviate “This, I believe, is the biggest of which campus a student called
Malfeasance Have Put Us in and to provide supplemental current supply chain bottlenecks lesson of the past two years,” Kris- home, Pace was one community
This Dire Situation and Now We funding for baby formula. She and prevent future disruptions by lov continued. “Who would have where “nothing is impossible, and
Must Act With Urgency. That’s also supports the bipartisan WIC reducing reliance on long supply anticipated this pandemic? Who everything is achievable.”
Why I’m Calling on President Healthy Beginnings Act, which chains and investing in American would have anticipated our politi- “Even throughout a world-
Biden to Invoke The Defense promotes competition and quality companies. She cosigned a FY23 cal upheaval? Our powerful racial altering pandemic, we adapted
Production Act to Increase for infant formula manufacturers appropriations letter requesting and social justice movement? and diligently zoomed our way
Production of Baby Formula by creating an online database $20 million in funding for the War in Europe? But the very fact through our studies, proving that
and to Keep Our Children Safe to streamline bids from formula Maternal and Infant Health and that nothing is forever is exactly we could persevere and conquer
and Fed.” manufacturers to state WIC pro- Nutrition programs at the FDA what gives us hope for the future. the unpredictable,” she said.
grams. Recently, she cosigned to help provide sufficient staffing Everything changes. Things will “However, being students at Pace
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand a letter led by Senator Murray for pre-market reviews of infant change. You can change things. was not just about the hands-on
is calling on President Biden to calling on the Infant Nutrition formula and rapidly respond to You will change things. And that learning and opportunities, it
invoke the Defense Production Council of America (INCA), an recalls. Together, the success of is what we have taught you at was also about the everlasting
Act to urgently address the cur- association of the four major U.S. these efforts would be instru- Pace. We have taught you about relationships and memories we
rent baby formula shortage. infant formula manufacturers, to mental in preventing a crisis like your field, but we have also taught made. These last four years have
increase infant formula produc- the one being felt now across the you how to think. How to interact. been filled with discovery, love,
A champion of the Special tion and distribution, and prevent nation. How to be lifelong learners. How fun, and knowledge.”