Thursday, February 11, 2010.

Chinese and Latino Garment Workers hold press conference and protest outside the Time Warner Center at 10 Columbus Circle

Latino and Chinese workers protested today, February 11, against Cache, Inc., the luxury women’s retail and manufacturer chain. They also announced a federal lawsuit filed against Cache, Inc. 

Cache workers were joined by workers from Liberty Apparel, Great Wall factories, and other supporters of the Ain't I A Woman?!  Campaign¹ demanding that Cache take responsibility for their wrongdoing and compensate the workers. They also are calling for  stronger manufacturer and retailer accountability legislation.

New York State Senator Tom Duane, who could not be there, in a strong message of support said "Cache, despite being a nationwide, publicly traded compnay which maintains multi-million dollar revenue, appears to persist in denying these workers sick leave, overtime pay, and even minimum wage, and retaliates against those who seek basic rights with unjust dismissals.."

Also present in solidarity were members from The National Organization for Women (NOW) and Democracy for NYC members Bruce Rosen and Bernadette Evangelist. The workers are being represented in the civil lawsuit by legal counsel from the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) and David Polk & Wardwell LLP.

¹The Ain’t I A Woman?! Campaign is a national outreach and educational effort led by women workers to demand those benefiting the most off of sweatshop labor are held accountable, from garment factories to home healthcare to offices. In the past, our campaign has recovered millions of dollars in backpay from companies such as DKNY, Tracy Evans, Kate Warner, Street Beat Sportswear, Odd & Evens, and many more. 

From left to right:  Marching protesters, press conference, spokesperson from NOW, Bruce Rosen from DFNYC. 

Democracy for NYC has sent a letter to Keith Wright, Chair of the Manhattan Democratic County Committee to ask for a postponement of the vote for the U.S. Senate seat endorsement scheduled for the February 11th County Committee meeting (see  letter below).  Until all declared Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate seat are afforded the same opportunity to meet with and address the district leaders, county leaders, and members of the committee, an endorsement vote should not take place. 

A joint letter to our NYS Congressional delegation will be sent from New York Civil Liberties Union and groups across the state

A number of sections of the USA PATRIOT Act are up for reauthorization at the end of February.  As you know, the Patriot Act included sections that curtailed civil rights and liberties and the record since its passage has demonstrated a regular pattern of abuse of Patriot Act powers. Congress now has a chance to restore constitutional protections into the law as part of the reauthorization process.  We expect that votes on Patriot Act reauthorization will come before Congress soon.

The NYCLU has drafted a letter that will be sent to every member of the New York State Congressional delegation urging them to support important changes to the Patriot Act.  Democracy for NYC has joined NYCLU and other organizations throughout New York State in adding our name to this letter. The letter insists the reforms must:

• Protect the privacy of Americans’ personal records by amending the government’s national security letter (NSL) authority (Patriot Act section 505) so that law enforcement may use its Patriot Act powers to access communications, financial and credit records only when they pertain to a terrorist suspect or spy. Currently, the Patriot Act authorizes the federal government to obtain tens of thousands of personal records on Americans without individualized suspicion that the subject of the records search is engaged in wrongdoing.  The current standard is so low that independent audits have found that approximately 50,000 NSLs are issued every year and many are issued against people two or three times removed from an actual suspect.  Congress must rein in this authority and protect the privacy and due process rights of innocent Americans.

• Protect the privacy of Americans’ communications by amending the Patriot Act’s “roving John Doe” wiretap authority (Patriot Act section 206) that permits the federal government to wiretap Americans without identifying either the person or the device to be tapped. The bill would require the government to describe either the person or the device to be wiretapped.  The legislation would also allow the “lone wolf” surveillance authority (Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 Section 60001) to sunset.  This provision authorizes government agents to use extraordinary surveillance powers, through the secret foreign intelligence surveillance court, against individuals who are not connected to any international terrorist group or foreign nation, thus sidestepping traditional Fourth Amendment protections.

•  Protect the privacy of homes and businesses by reigning in the government’s “sneak and peak” authority (Patriot Act Section 213), which vastly expanded the government’s authority to secretly conduct searches without giving prior notice to the owner or occupant of the search’s premises. This section of the Patriot Act amended regular criminal law procedure to allow the federal government to clandestinely search Americans’ homes, even in cases that have nothing to do with terrorism.  The USA Patriot Amendments Act would remove this broad catch-all exemption from traditional Fourth Amendment protections but still permit law enforcement to continue secret searches in emergencies or urgent circumstances.

• Protect Americans’ First Amendment rights by amending the standard that accompanies the gag orders associated with NSLs and Section 215 orders.  Under current law, recipients of a national security letter or a Patriot Act section 215 order are prohibited from informing anyone but their attorneys about the government’s order. The USA Patriot Amendments Act would amend the law so that if a recipient of such an order wishes to speak out about the government’s actions, the burden of proof will be on the government to explain to a court why national security will be jeopardized if the recipient wishes to tell others about the order.

The time is long overdue for Congress to stand with the millions of New Yorkers and Americans across the country who are eager to see their constitutional rights restored.  We therefore ask our representatives to support this important legislation that will move the United States closer to restoring the rule of law and will make the country stronger and more secure.

As soon as the letter has been finalized, we will post it here. In the meantime, you can send your individual message at by clicking here .

ACTION ALERT! January 26, 2010:

Jan Schakowsky (Rep-IL) has reintroduced the “Stop Outsourcing Security Act,” (H.R.4650) to responsibly phase out the use of private security contractors, such as Blackwater, for functions that should be reserved for U.S. military forces and for government personnel. Bernie Sanders (Sen-VT) has concurrently introduced a companion bill into the Senate (S.3023).

As Rep Schakowsky said in her letter to her fellow members of the house, “In 2009, the U.S. government employed well over 20,000 armed private security contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, and there is every indication that these figures will continue to rise in 2010. These men and women are not part of the U.S. military or government. They do not wear the uniform of the United States, though their behavior has, on numerous occasions, severely damaged the credibility and security of our military and harmed our relationship with other governments.”

Rep. Schakowsky’s bill recognizes that with our military already so very overtaxed that it will take time to eliminate the use of private contractors for functions that should be reserved for U.S. military personnel. Her bill is also in keeping with the recommendations made in July of 2009 by the U.N. Working group on the Use of Mercenaries.

This bill puts our government back on the path of restoring military functions to the U.S. military. “The legislation would prohibit the use of private military contractors for military, security, law enforcement, intelligence, and armed rescue functions unless the President tells Congress why the military is unable to perform those functions. It would also increase the transparency over any remaining security contractors by increasing reporting requirements and giving Congress access to details about large contracts.”

Three New York reps have signed on so far. They are John Hall, Maurice Hinchey and Carolyn Maloney. Please contact your representative and ask him/her to sign on as an original co-sponsor of this bill. If your representative has already signed on, please contact him/her to say "thank you." Please email Bernadette with their response at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Democracy for NYC supports this bill and has sent this letter to each member of our NYC Congressional Delegation asking them to co-sponsor this bill.