A crowd of Latino and Chinese women gathered in the street at 12:30pm outside the exclusive Time Warner Mall at 10 Columbus Circle in the Upper West Side of Manhattan last Thursday, February 11th. They were not there to shop. Brandishing picket signs with slogans like "Hold Manufacturers Accountable Now!" and "Cache: High End Clothing Made With Low-End Tactics," the garment workers angrily announced to gathered supporters and the press that they were filing a federal lawsuit against Cache, Inc. There were also there to protest the luxury retail and manufacturing chain’s failure to abide by federal and state wage and hour laws. Just inside the mall, Cache's boutique displayed the kind of high-end apparel they had sewn.

For many years, workers from Cache’s subcontracted factory in the midtown garment district labored over 70 hours each week without ever receiving overtime pay and sometimes not receiving minimum wage. Shortly after workers had complained about not being paid overtime, they were retaliated against and fired.

Dong, a Cache worker, says, “When we asked the bosses to pay us for our overtime, they said, ‘What overtime pay? Never has our company ever given overtime pay,.’”

Despite a recent hard-won victory by garment workers against manufacturer Liberty Apparel, where a federal court judge and jury clearly stated that manufacturers are responsible for their subcontractor’s wage violations, Cache refuses to right its wrongdoings and compensate the workers in accordance with the law. Disgracefully, despite $250 million in annual revenue, Cache refuses to pay workers what they are owed.

Unfortunately, this kind of exploitation is all too common. “Workers face similar conditions across the garment industry. We need to stand up together to demand for just and fair treatment,” said Patricia, another Cache worker.

The workers are being represented in the civil lawsuit by legal counsel from the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.

Cache workers, along with workers from Liberty Apparel and Great Wall factories, and other supporters of the Ain’t I A Woman?! Campaign are demanding that Cache take responsibility for their wrongdoing and compensate the workers. The workers are also calling for stronger manufacturer and retailer accountability legislation.

The Ain’t I A Woman?! Campaign is a national outreach and educational effort led by women workers to demand those benefiting the most off of sweatshop labor are held accountable, from garment factories to home healthcare to offices. In the past, the campaign has recovered millions of dollars in backpay from companies such as DKNY, Tracy Evans, Kate Warner, Street Beat Sportswear, Odd & Evens, and many more. NMASS encourages other garment workers to come forward and hold the manufacturers and retailers responsible for abusive conditions and wage violations in their factories.

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