Research Guides: HIST 296: Human Trafficking and Nuclear Testing in the Pacific: Saipan's Garment Industry

Introduction

Beginning in the 1990s and into the 2000s, the garment industry in Saipan, Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands (CNMI), came under increasing scrutiny for its labor practices. In 1986, the CNMI entered into a covenant relationship with the United States, which grants U.S. citizenship to residents of the Mariana Islands. However, the covenant did not extend either U.S. immigration laws or federal minimum wage laws to the island. One result being that, by the 1990s, non-residents outnumbered residents in Saipan, with many working for sub-minimum wage in garment factories (which could then ship garments to the United States with a "Made in USA" label while avoiding tariffs that would normally apply to textiles made outside of the United States.) The lack of immigration laws also fueled an underground industry in sex trafficking.

Selected films

Behind the labels : garment workers on U.S. Saipan by Susan Sarandon et al
Call Number: AV Center DVD 10388
Publication Date: 2003
"Lured by false promises and driven by desperation, thousands of Chinese and Filipina women pay high fees to work in garment factories on the Pacific island of Saipan, the only U.S. territory exempt from labor and immigration laws. The clothing they sew, bearing the "Made in the USA" label, is shipped duty and quota-free to the U.S for sale by The GAP, J. Crew, Polo and other retailers." (From film producers' description)

Newspaper articles

The Marianas Variety newspaper is published in Saipan. It's online edition includes articles about the relationship between industry, foreign workers and sex traffickers.

2nd woman in sex trafficking testifies
Illustrates the relationship between foreign workers and sex trafficking.
Letter to the Editor: The perpetual dark days of former garment workers
Describes the experiences of a garment worker from the Philippines.

The database Newspaper Source Plus searches the full text of more than 700 newspapers. A simple search for Saipan and garment brings up numerous articles about the industry and its abuses.

Government Documents

Documents listed here were all founding using GovInfo, a freely available website maintained by the United States Government Printing Office. The links below lead directly to the records for individual items in GovInfo, from which point they can be downloaded.

SHAME IN SAIPAN: EXPLOITATION OF WORKERS IN THE GARMENT INDUSTRY
Remarks in the Congressional Record made by Representative Tom Lantos (D-California) on November 7, 1997.
Northern Mariana Islands: Garment and Tourist Industries
A report issued by the Government Accounting Office (GAO) in 2000, which looks at the economic impacts of both the garment and tourism industries, as well as their reliance on foreign workers.
OVERSIGHT HEARING ON THE ENFORCEMENT OF FEDERAL LAWS AND THE USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS IN THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS
This transcript of a U.S. House hearing includes such testimony as, "And we all know that the real reason for lax immigration regulation is that the current system serves the desires of the garment industry, the sex trade, the drug trade, and others in the Saipan government—and the Saipan government either lacks the authority or the will and the ability to bring this under control." (Representative George Miller, D-California).

Academic articles

Pursuing International Labour Rights in U.S. Courts: New Uses for Old Tools by Compa, Lance et al.
Publication Date: 2002
Article includes a history (beginning on Page 17) of the lawsuits filed by labor unions and human rights organizations against garment manufacturers in Saipan.
Saipan: From Then to Now by Kluge, P.F.
Publication Date: 2006
Includes discussion of the garment industry and use of foreign workers in tourism industry.
Predatory Princes and Princely Peddlers: The State and International Labour Migration Intermediaries in China by Xiang, Biao
Publication Date: 2012
Describes recruitment practices in China, with some discussion of Saipan.