Six dozen Thai immigrants who worked long hours stitching pricey clothes behind barbed wire were expecting to split more than $1 million in back wages in time for the holidays.
But they may never see their yuletide windfall. Garmentmakers have forced the illegal sweatshops that employed them into bankruptcy, which could tie up their money in litigation for years."They've been through so much," said Julie Su, a lawyer with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, which represents many of the immigrants. "There's only so much they can react to."
Their story was revealed in August, after state and federal authorities raided the razor wire-ringed shops in suburban El Monte, Calif.
What they found were 72 Thai nationals, mostly women, who had been smuggled into the United States and forced to work as many as 22 hours a day. Their wages were pitiful, sometimes less than $2 an hour, and the conditions were deplorable.
Authorities later found more than $750,000 in cash, gold jewelry and gold bars in a safe at the apartment complex where the immigrants were holed up.
The chance of any of those liquidated assets going to the workers in the near future, however, is unlikely, said Jose Millan, California's acting labor commissioner.
Manufacturers contracted the sweatshops to produce clothes that would be sold at many of the nation's largest retail stores, from Mervyn's to Macy's and Neiman Marcus.
But in many cases, the sweatshops were unable to fulfill their contractual obligations with the manufacturers.
By law, three or more creditors can band together and force a company into bankruptcy, Millan said. Three manufacturers - F-40 California Inc., Topson Downs of California and Ms. Tops of California Inc. - used that option. That has prevented the immigrants from receiving any of the cash seized from the sweatshops.
"For (the manufacturers) to come forward and say the money we have seized belongs to them and not to the workers, knowing we had planned to disburse the money before Christmas, makes them rather grinchlike," Millan said.
Officials at F-40 said the company's owners are out of town for the holidays and could not be reached for comment. Executives at Topson Downs and at Ms. Tops did not return numerous phone calls Thursday.
The news has shocked the immigrants, who were depending on the money. Many are struggling to survive on new, minimum-wage sewing jobs, Su said.