Apart from producing clothing, the garment workers that toiled in Korean and Chinese factories throughout the 20th century had little in common.  Distinct ideologies highlighted a cultural divide in the immigrant experience of the Chinese, Korean, and Hispanic laborers that immigrated to America in hope of securing a job in the garment industry.

1.  In Chinese factories, finding a job as a garment worker was viewed as a “rite of passage” for most young immigrants.  Chinese women, who made up a large percentage of the workforce, often brought their families with them to America.  Their husbands often worked in the restaurant industry.  In addition to producing garments, these women also had to care for their children and run family errands.  Since the Chinese garment factories almost exclusively employed Chinese workers, the owners crafted a production model that reflected the cultural and practical needs of the Chinese women.  The workers were payed for each piece they produced, and were allowed to work at home in order to make extra money.  Their working hours were relatively lenient, allowing them to attend to the various other roles they served in their family unit including wife, mother, and financial provider.  Since they worked in all-Chinese factories, these women had little reason to assimilate to American culture and   many did not have a need to learn English.  Decades later, when the garment industry in Chinatown experienced a rapid economic downturn following 9/11, this approach proved problematic for the garment workers.  They had a limited skill set as they had always worked in one industry, few contacts in other fields, and most could not even speak English.

2.  Th Korean-run factories model of employment could not have been more different. In Korean factories, workers were viewed as part of the assembly line rather than part of the family unit.  Workers were not allowed to take work home, and they were payed hourly wages rather than by the amount of garments they produced.  The Koreans hired workers from a plethora of backgrounds including Mexicans and Ecaudorians.  These immigrants were often illegal male laborers.  Unlike the Chinese workers, they were not members of unions and were payed in cash rather than by check. Finding work was difficult for these immigrants as they lacked the “family connection” that allowed so many Chinese workers to find a job in the garment industry.  They were hired for their skill, not their connections, and were viewed in the workplace as more of a machine than a human being.  Production, not the protection of cultural identity, was the ultimate goal in these factories.

-Victor Rerick