Ever since his removal as CEO of the company he founded and built into an empire, noted asshole and newly minted broke boi Dov Charney has battled with American Apparel through many a twist and turns. The conspiracy theories have been riveting and the bankruptcy filing has totally changed the landscape of Dov's plans to get back into the game. But he does have more than a few people on his side at American Apparel that want him back steering the ship. Racked met with the General Brotherhood of Workers for American Apparel, a group of more than 3,000 people working to bring Charney back.
Leading the movement is Stephanie Padilha, a Brazilian AA employee that was fired after being elected to this makeshift union back in August. They post up outside the factory in Los Angeles and regularly see people from the HR department looking out the window to see who is in with the protestors. The group documents its actions and news online, has been in action since May and calls for current CEO Paula Schneider to resign. These people love Dov, who shows up to the rallies himself sporadically, and the work he's done. Before the company declared bankruptcy, Padilha said with him in charge, the company could have been turned around in just over a month. That's obviously not the case now.
Since Schneider took over, the group says, work rates have been decreased so much that they can't survive on their wages and lay offs have cut the workforce amid rumors that AA would be outsourcing its famously made in Los Angeles clothes to overseas factories. It's a wild fucking ride that has gotten us to this point and it doesn't look like it's going to slow down. Even if AA closes shop, the protestors believe Dov should and would start up a new company. Talk about bringing this entire clusterfuck full circle. Read the full piece over at Racked.
