A report issued yesterday by the U.S. Department of Labor revealed a significant decrease in minimum wage and time and a-half overtime violations by New York City garment factories during the period from 1999 to 2001. Among the sixty-seven companies investigated, minimum wage compliance increased by ten percent to ninety-three percent compliance, and overtime pay compliance increased twenty percent to sixty-two percent compliance. The head of the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division was quick to point out that although the improvements represented a significant change in an industry notorious for its sweatshops and labor and wage law violations, much improvement is still needed.
See STEVEN GREENHOUSE, The New York Times, March 28, 2002