American Apparel closed
Published 12:05 am Saturday, May 4, 2013
Some 225 American Apparel workers are without jobs this week – at least temporarily – after the company did not get a military contract it was expecting, officials confirmed Friday.
The layoffs occurred at the Opp location on Adams Road, and General Manager Peggy Henderson said they were notified last Thursday or Friday that they did not receive the contract.
“But we’re not giving up,” she said. “We are waiting to hear from the military. It wasn’t a surprise, we knew our other contracts were up, but we are hopeful.”
Henderson said employees, in the meantime, are eligible to collect unemployment compensation.
“We are waiting to see what happens,” she said. “We do not have work, but I don’t want people to think that we aren’t trying. We are anticipating new contracts, and we are working to get those. We don’t know that we will or that we won’t, but we hope that it’s a temporary thing.”
The company announced in late 2010 that it was awarded three U.S. military contracts to provide uniforms and uniform pieces for troops serving in combat operations.
At the time, the Opp branch added 60 jobs to its workforce, which brought the number to its current 225.