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By Felicia Persaud |
New York, Jan. 7, 2004: More than 40 years after emigrating to the United States, a garment worker is finally telling her story.
"Garment Center the Evil Empire," by Anna Boulet (1stBooks Library, 2003), is a first-person account of the Flushing author's experience as
a seamstress and, later, an assistant designer in Manhattan. Fictitious characters and company names were used to describe actual events but
protect people's identities.
"It's unique because it was written by someone who actually went through the experience of working in the industry," said David Munck, spokesman for the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE). "Most books are written from a sociological perspective by someone outside of the business."
UNITE represents more than 250,000 laundry, apparel and distribution workers in the United States and Canada.
"I must say that I was disappointed that fictitious characters were used," said Munck. "We always want names. I'd like to know where she
really worked."
Boulet came to the city from Cavaillon, Haiti, in 1963. She found clothing in her new home was mass-produced and expensive, so she decided
to learn dressmaking. Boulet received certification as a seamstress and draper - someone who hangs the material for a new dress - at the Mayer
School of Fashion Design in Manhattan. Her first job was with Nanette Manufacturing, a children's clothing company where she made showroom sample dresses from designers' sketches.
"My mother loves what she does," said Marjorie Etienne, Boulet's daughter. "But she was frustrated with how workers were treated."
Like Boulet, sewers and drapers were immigrants who could not afford the health care benefits offered by their employers, nor were they paid for
sick days. By contrast, managers, designers and sales people usually had their health plans fully paid for by their company.
"We provided health care to all of our employees from the top down," said Boulet's former boss at the company the author calls "Traap" in her
book. Interviewed by telephone, he asked to remain anonymous. "But Anna was wrongfully fired by my \ partner," he added. "He was driving her to do too much work in a short amount of time."
Workers could be fired without reason, notice or severance pay, said Boulet, who was let go in this way after nine years.
Her book, published last year, tells of Traap's meteoric rise and its unwillingness to share success with employees. "They became rich while I
was there," she said, "but our conditions remained the same." Cramped quarters and the demand to produce more were constants. At one point,
the company announced it would no longer pay to have scissors sharpened - a weekly necessity - by an outside service; employees were to pay for this themselves.
"Workers should read the book," said Alice Hackett, Boulet's sister. "They might find things similar to their own problems." Hackett, 65,
lives in Jackson Heights and has worked in the garment district for more than 20 years.
"Conditions in the industry have become a lot worse in the last 20 years," Munck said. "It's a food chain, and the people who do the sewing
are at the bottom."
Design houses are under pressure to produce more for less money, he said.
"It's a price-driven industry. The designers used to have the power to set prices [for their products]," Munck said. "Now the retailers are doing it and driving the prices down."
Sometimes, retailers bypass designers completely and find contractors to produce a product. "And there are lots of unscrupulous contractors" who
mistreat workers, he said.
Boulet, 67, retired but has returned to work in the industry. She began writing "Garment Center" in 1996. She kept the project a secret, telling
only her daughter, Etienne.
"She didn't tell me about it until after it was published," Boulet's sister said.
Etienne, 43, used a word processor to transcribe typed and handwritten pages mailed to her home in Coral Springs, Fla., by her mother. Almost
50 drafts of the book were written and revised over a five-year period, as 50 pages steadily grew to 172.
Upon the manuscript's completion, Boulet tried to find a publisher. After a few rejections, she received a promotional letter from 1stBooks
Library, an Indiana-based company specializing in first-time authors and "print-on-demand" titles. She contacted 1stBooks and they struck a deal,
with the author paying about $500 to have the book published, and with copies printed based on customer demand. "We exist to help authors,"
said Celeste Policastro, director of marketing. "Most [major] publishing houses are only interested in a book as a [saleable] product. They
publish a very small fraction of what is out there."
"My mother just wants to let people know how workers in the are treated," Etienne said. "It's not such a glamorous a place."
"Someone needs to give a voice to these people," Boulet said. "This is their story."
The book is available online at 1stbooks.com, amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.