Union: Local (military uniform company) firm running sweatshops

[Omaha Steve]

http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=192282

Union: Local firm running sweatshops
By Dave Wedge
Boston Herald Chief Enterprise Reporter
Monday, April 2, 2007 - Updated: 03:42 AM EST

A major Fall River-based military uniform company run by a well-to-do Bay State real estate investor is under fire from national union officials who allege the owner is running low-paying sweatshops in the Deep South.


American Power Source Inc. owner Roxanne Ferreiro and her husband own properties including: a South Boston three-unit condo worth almost $600,000; a Mississippi inn worth $135,000 (shown here); and a Weston home worth $1.4 million.


Employees of American Power Source, which is owned by Roxanne Ferreiro of Weston, complain of subsistence-level wages, poor working conditions and unannounced layoffs - all in depressed parts of Alabama and Mississippi.
“This company, it’s a disgrace to the military uniform,” said Annie Williams, a former factory worker for APS in Columbus, Miss. “If you care about (soldiers), you would be willing to pay people right.”

APS is headquartered in Fall River, where about 15 workers make prototypes, but the complaints stem from its factories in Fayette, Ala., and Columbus, which employ about 300 workers.
Those complaints echo similar accusations lodged against a New Bedford leather company where more than 360 workers were rounded up last month by immigration officials in a controversial raid. Like APS, Michael Bianco Inc. was accused of forcing its employees to work under sweatshop conditions.

FULL 2 page story at link.

[Heidi]

1. Nice house the boss has there, annit?

With the average annual salary at the plants at $13,520, I wonder how many of the company's employees have the luxury of owning a home? :grr: