Dept. Of CasinoFail: SugarHouse’s Subcontractor Seamstress Sweatshop
Remember all that jive a few years back from the vehemently pro-casino mouthbreathers in Fishtown who believed that SugarHouse was going to swoop down and employ every last one of us? Well, hitch up the wagon, mama, thar’s gold in them thar hills!
Fast Seamstresses Needed! (Philadelphia)
Date: 2010-08-26, 7:35PM EDT
Reply to: gigs-mscdn-1921160249@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]Hello! The new SugarHouse Casino uniform team needs your help getting their employees ready for their opening at the end of September! This job would require you to work several days a week between Sept 10th and Sept 29 to hem pants and perform other alterations. Each pair of pants will get you $1.25 to $1.50 depending on experience. We are hoping for each seamstress to complete about 30-40 pairs of pants each day they work. Payment will be no later than Oct 5th. This opportunity has the potential for a large payday, as there are over 1,700 pairs of pants to hem!! Each seamstress should bring their own equipment, including a sewing machine with a blind hem attachment. If this is not possible, please contact me anyway, as there might be something we can work out. Only a few positions are needed so please contact as soon as possible. Please include some sort of resume or references… anything that would demonstrate you are capable of this job. Thank you!!!!
Location: Philadelphia
it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
Compensation: $1.25 to $1.50 per pant
Now, for those of you not familiar with the sewing trade, it takes around 20-25 minutes to do a proper hem. Also, sewing machines — which seamstresses would be required to haul down to SugarHouse — are heavy, unweildy and a pain in the ass to carry on the bus. And the wage offered here is well below market rate, even though the ad promises a “large payday.” In reality, there’s an opportunity to make about $3.00 an hour here (before taxes) — which, after 1,700 pairs of pants, could make you rich… in Liberia.
August 31st, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Pols paid off? Check.
Waterfront location secured? Check.
Neighborhood groups taken care of? Check.
Slot machines on order? Check.
Liquor scheduled for delivery? Check.
Hey, did anybody hem the pants yet?
August 31st, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Seriously? What self respecting seamstress takes almost half hr to hem a pair of pants? Having worked in a similar area they’re prob doing it assembly line style. So basically one person is getting $1.50 to iron, one to pin, and one to stitch. so you should be getting $1.50 every 5 min… thats $18 an hr. not bad. the fact that they have to bring their own machine though is stupid
August 31st, 2010 at 4:48 pm
It says each seamstress would do 30-40 pairs of pants each day they work. At a 5 minute clip, that would be hundreds, not tens. So yes, seriously.
September 1st, 2010 at 12:06 am
1) Who cares, Sugah.
2) I intend to pay rent from that casino.
3) Dare me.
October 27th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
I signed up for an account just to respond to this.
I did this job, and they did offer me a decent day rate. HOWEVER… No one who did this job has gotten paid yet, including the girl they hired to supervise the whole project.
This is the fault of Arrow Uniforms, but it’s my opinion that Sugarhouse Casino should be making sure that their subcontractors get paid. PERIOD.