Made in L.A. (Hecho en Los Angeles) (review)

This film documents the 36-month long struggle of a group of Latin American immigrant garment industry workers in Los Angeles to gain fair wages and legal working conditions. The workers used legal action, picketing, a national boycott, and negative publicity to achieve a settlement of their claims for unpaid wages and other job benefits. The film focuses on three of the 19 workers who participated in the struggle.

In the opening scenes the three women, María, Lupe, and Maura, describe how they came to Los Angeles, talk about their daily life, and reveal the working conditions that led them to file a complaint. These scenes set the stage for the protest that developed as they realized how they were being exploited by garment manufacturers and, ultimately, by the retail chain under whose contract the clothing was made.

The majority of the film follows the women and their co-workers as they joined the Garment Worker Center in their East L.A. neighborhood. There they were coached on how to protest and helped with the legal steps to follow in pursuing recourse for their illegal working conditions. The Center staff points out that the legal argument they used is precedent setting. They filed suit against the retail company that holds the contract to purchase clothing made in the illegal garment factories, not against their direct employers, the factory owners. The lawyers are from the Asia Pacific American Legal Center, a NGO that works for the rights of Asian and Pacific Islanders in the United States. No Asian workers are mentioned or shown in the film, so one infers the concern of this organization may be with the precedent, which would apply to all garment workers, including Asians and Pacific Islanders.

The initial petition was rejected by the court, which wrote that the retail firm is not liable for the working conditions of the people who made clothing they purchased. This decision was appealed and, after a 2-year wait, was found in favor of the plaintiffs. The company was faced with a choice: negotiate or face a law suit. They agreed to negotiate and a settlement was reached. The members of the Garment Worker Center were elated. The details of the settlement are confidential, but the lawyers read a document in which the company agreed to guarantee safe and legal working conditions for the workers who manufacture clothing sold in their stores.

Made in L.A. ends with follow-ups on the life of María, Lupe and Maura one year after the settlement. María is shown with her children at home. She still works in la costura, but says it is for the benefit of her family and that she will work only for a company that pays fair wages and follows labor law. Lupe has become a labor organizer and is shown on a trip to Hong Kong to picket a meeting of the World Trade Organization. Maura is struggling to learn English and qualify for citizenship because she believes the garment industry will be off-shored and she will need to find another way to earn a living. She also hopes becoming a citizen will allow her to bring her three sons from El Salvador to the United States. All the women appear to be comfortable with their decision to join the challenge to their working conditions, but each one paid a price. María had to defy her husband to continue participating, and Maura will have to learn skills for a new career. But it is Lupe who is most affected by the experience. Shown overlooking the city of Hong Kong, she marvels at how far she has come (both literally and spiritually) then goes on to utter the most profound statement of the entire film: "The more I learn the lonlier I feel. Ignorance somehow protects you."

There is no narration in this film. The entire...