A rezoning plan for downtown Los Angeles, they say, could endanger the sewing industry, which supports thousands of low-income families.
This plan, aimed at creating more housing in downtown Los Angeles, could ban and limit the sewing industry in certain areas and which, they denounce, if it materializes, will affect thousands of jobs.
“We need about 20 years in sewing to pour it out in such a short time,” said Chris Lopez, a sewing worker.
Garment workers gathered in a protest outside Los Angeles City Hall today where the Planning and Land Management Committee was due to vote on possible zoning changes in the downtown Los Angeles.
“This plan threatens a development that could displace sewing work. The center of fashion is not just in Los Angeles, but across the country,” said Marisa Nuncio, director of the Center for Garment Workers.
“The sewers denounce that the new zoning would favor the construction of hotels and luxury buildings and restrict the sewing industry in the heart of Los Angeles,” said Juan Muñoz, spokesman for the union Unite Local 11.
Instead of protecting the garment industry, the plan allows hotels in industrial zones.
The jobs of some 20,000 seamstresses could be at risk, they say.
“The reason is to ask council members for their vote so that they are not completely displaced from the sewing industry,” said Francisco Mancilla, a sewing worker.
The Garment Workers Center has made a number of recommendations to include in this plan, such as creating affordable housing and protecting against high-end construction displacing low-income residents.
We don’t want luxury hotels, our emergency is housing, every building that doesn’t move sewing machines.
“We didn’t listen. They are opposed to these recommendations and that encourages us for this vote,” he added.
Following today’s vote, the proposals will be considered by the Los Angeles Council.