US Proposal for a Fashioning Accountability and Building Real Institutional Change (FABRIC) Act

USA

12 Apr

Governmental Agency: US Senate / House of Representatives
Jurisdiction: USA
Ref no: FABRIC Act / S.2817 / H.R.8473
Status: IN REVIEW

The Fashioning Accountability and Building Real Institutional Change (FABRIC) Act is a proposed federal legislation aimed at revitalizing the US domestic garment industry and establishing the US as a global leader in responsible apparel production through new workplace protections and manufacturing incentives. This bill would take the protections for workers' wages now in effect as of January 2022 with California's Garment Worker Protection Act nationwide.

The FABRIC Act is centered around four main pillars: combating sub-minimum wages, establishing new liability measures for workplace violations, introducing record keeping and transparency measures, and creating a Domestic Garment Manufacturing Support Program. The FABRIC Act would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to create a new set of labor protections for workers in the garment industry designed to curb many of the abuses inherent to industry bad actors. Some of these protections include:

- Creating a new $50 million per year Domestic Garment Manufacturing Support Program to help manufacturers address facilities and equipment costs, make safety improvements, and do training and workforce development.
- Prohibiting payment-by-piece-rate compensation schemes as base pay where workers are not already paid minimum wage or covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
- Holding brands accountable for the labor practices of their manufacturing partners.
- Implementing better oversight and enforcement
- Creating a nationwide garment industry registry to ensure manufacturers and contractors operate according to these labor standards.

The FABRIC Act could have significant impacts on the fashion & textile industry nationwide. This could include:
- Financial Impacts: due to the proposed end of ""piece rates"" abroad
- Responsible Business Growth: Ensuring those that are not paying appropriately are held accountable rather than benefiting from lower wage payments.
- Incentivizing US Clothing Manufacturing: The act introduces incentives to reshore manufacturing, which could increase domestic manufacturing opportunities for US businesses.
As of September 2023, the bill remains under consideration by the Senate.