In 1995, seventy-two Thai garment workers were found imprisoned in an El Monte apartment that was turned into a sweat shop.

"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 p

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