In 1991, Levi Strauss & Co. became embroiled in a major labor scandal involving jeans manufactured in the Northern Mariana Islands. Investigators found that approximately 3 percent of the company's annually sold Levi's jeans carrying the 'Made in the USA' label had actually been produced by Chinese laborers working under conditions the U.S. Department of Labor characterized as slave-like. Workers employed through Levi's subcontractor, Tan Holdings Corporation, were reportedly subjected to sub-minimum wages, seven-day workweeks, shifts lasting up to 12 hours, abusive living conditions, and other workplace violations. The scandal exposed how American-origin labeling could conceal a highly exploitative offshore labor system operating within a U.S. commonwealth. Tan Holdings ultimately paid more than $9 million in restitution to roughly 1,200 employees, described at the time as among the largest labor-related penalties in U.S. history. Levi Strauss denied knowing about the abuses, cut ties with the Tan family, and introduced new inspection and labor-compliance measures. The episode became an early warning of the increasingly opaque subcontracting networks that would define global apparel production in the late twentieth century.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1990s
The 1991 Marianas Labor Scandal Behind Levi's 'Made in the USA' Jeans
Levi Strauss & Co.; Tan Holdings Corporation / 1990s
In 1991, Levi Strauss & Co. became embroiled in a major labor scandal involving jeans manufactured in the Northern Mariana Islands. Investigators found that approximately 3 percent of the company's annually sold Levi's jeans carrying the 'Made in the USA' label had actually been produced by Chinese laborers working under conditions the U.S. Department of Labor characterized as slave-like. Workers employed through Levi's subcontractor, Tan Holdings Corporation, were reportedly subjected to sub-minimum wages, seven-day workweeks, shifts lasting up to 12 hours, abusive living conditions, and other workplace violations. The scandal exposed how American-origin labeling could conceal a highly exploitative offshore labor system operating within a U.S. commonwealth. Tan Holdings ultimately paid more than $9 million in restitution to roughly 1,200 employees, described at the time as among the largest labor-related penalties in U.S. history. Levi Strauss denied knowing about the abuses, cut ties with the Tan family, and introduced new inspection and labor-compliance measures. The episode became an early warning of the increasingly opaque subcontracting networks that would define global apparel production in the late twentieth century.
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