Seeking to provide apparel workers higher pay and better opportunities in an industry facing increased overseas competition and automation, SMC has launched a $200,000 program to train low-wage employees in computerized knitwear production.

The program, which began Monday, will train 86 employees over 18 months to operate, maintain and program sophisticated knitwear apparel-making machines. As employees advance their skills -- moving ultimately into computerized knitwear design -- they will increase their pay.

Initially, the program will train employees at three companies in Los Angeles -- French Rags, Woo-Ami, and Lafa Company. The training will be held at French Rags, located in West Los Angeles.

"The apparel industry is the largest manufacturing sector in Los Angeles but it is facing keen overseas competition and is turning more and more to sophisticated machines that are faster, more accurate, and ultimately lower cost than using unskilled laborers," said Marvin Martinez, SMC associate vice president of planning and development. "The challenge the industry is facing is training these employees and providing them the technical skills to operate these machines."

The program is being funded with a $199,575 grant from the California Employment Training Panel, a state agency created in 1982 to retrain workers to meet the needs of employers for skilled workers and the need of workers for good, long-term jobs. This is the first time SMC has received a grant from the agency.

Apparel workers have been among the most rapidly declining occupational groups in the economy, and employment in that sector is expected to continue to decline through 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

An increase in imports, the use of offshore assembly, and greater productivity through new automation will contribute to additional job losses.

At the same time, the apparel and textile industry is large, generating more than $47 billion in wholesale sales annually in California and accounting for approximately 279,000 direct and indirect jobs in the state. Automation offers opportunities for workers to gain skills and increase their earning potential significantly, even as employers reduce their work force.

The SMC program, taught at the work sites, offers three classes -- the first teaches operation of the new computerized machines, the second level teaches maintenance and programming, and the third covers computerized knitwear design. As employees pass each class, their pay is increased.

The new training program builds on a small pilot project SMC started last November in which it trained 15 French Rags employees in the basics of knitwear machine operation.

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