American Apparel & Graphic Love Juice
August 29, 2007 § Leave a Comment
Graphic Love Juice, LLC will be printing exclusively on American Apparel clothing. The first run for women will be printed on the color ‘Asphalt’ as the men will have ‘brown’ available. More color options will be available at a later time.
From American Apparel’s inception Mr Charney (owner) has put great emphasis on making his workers happy. Pay is performance-related, and amounts to $12 an hour on average, far above California’s minimum wage of $6.75. American Apparel staff can buy subsidised health insurance for $8 a week. They are entitled to free English lessons, subsidised meals and free parking. Their workspace is properly lit and ventilated. When the company goes public employees will receive an average of 500 shares, expected to be worth about $4,500.
Anti-sweatshop activists praise Mr Charney as a pioneer of the fair treatment of garment workers. The benefits he provides are expensive: subsidising health insurance costs his firm $4m-5m a year; subsidising meals costs another $500,000. Even so, Mr Charney says he has no plans to scale back these benefits. He considers his contented workers the reason for his success. Treating them well means they are less likely to leave, for one thing, which saves money. “American Apparel is not an altruistic company,” says Mr Charney. “I believe in capitalism and self-interest. Self-interest can involve being generous with others.” - The Economist – January 4, 2007
