"I feel like that case is an example of what happens when working people are made so expendable and so invisible that something like this allowed to happen basically in plain sight," said Julie Su, who 30 years ago was a civil rights attorney who fought for and with the garment workers.
That case, the workers' fight for freedom, justice and cross-cultural solidarity, led to the founding of the Garment Worker Center in 2001.
"We organize for power to transform the working conditions in L.A.'s garment district," said Marissa Nuncio, executive director of the Garment Worker Center.
The organization powered by garment workers has helped establish statewide labor protections in an industry where workers still face a high rate of wage theft.
"It's an industry that is built off the backs of mostly immigrant workers and mostly immigrant women," said Su.
Over the weekend, GWC opened the doors of its new Justice Campus.
"It's a newly renovated building that will serve as a headquarters for organizing, for our legal clinic, for our mutual aid and social support service work," said Nuncio.
Francisco Tzul, a garment worker and leader in the organization, shared that he stumbled upon the organization just after being fired for organizing for fair pay in the workplace.
He's calling for support for the workers facing increased fear and job insecurity over immigration sweeps.
"There are so many garment workers without work right now, and that's not because they don't want to work, it's because they are really afraid to go to work," said Tzul.
GWC honored California State Senator María Elena Durazo with the Justice Campus Champion award. Durazo helped obtain funding for the Justice Campus and authored SB 62, the Garment Worker Protection Act which eliminates piece rate pay in the garment industry.
"My first job in the labor movement was as an organizer in the garment industry. So I know what the conditions were 30, 40 years ago. Today, I can see that we've moved ahead, but it's still a long way to go," said Durazo.