Factory management detained her against her will for two hours, interrogated her about union activities, offered her bribes, questioned her about her children, and forced her to sign a blank piece of paper. Palacios was illegally fired from her factory job at Caribbean Apparel after being elected general secretary of the union, one week before the delegation arrived in El Salvador. None of these promises have been kept. Workers at Caribbean Apparel make 60 cents an hour and work six days a week, eleven hours a day. Production lines in the factory produce 2,000 pieces of Kathie Lee garments every day.
Workers get no sick pay and their bathroom visits are restricted and monitored.
Every new employee must pay for a mandatory pregnancy test, and if the results are positive, they are fired immediately, Kernaghan says. They can afford these workers the dignity of at least hearing their complaints. We know from past experience that Kathie Lee will do little about abusive factory conditions, but at least hearing these workers out is within her control. We have listened to these workers and we will take action in line with their interests and the changes they say need to be made. She said it is extremely difficult to monitor all the subcontractors who manufacture her apparel line, which is sold exclusively at Wal-Mart.