The Hidden Costs of 'Made in America'

He had spent his latest 45-hour workweek hunched over a sewing machine, attaching labels and stitching collars and tightening black and gold blouses that would soon sell at bargain prices at a popular retailer. But now it was Saturday afternoon, paycheck time, when Pedro felt the full sting of that bargain: It was his own salary that helped keep the prices down for consumers. His manager gathered the 30-some workers from their stations in the unmarked brick building and passed out payslips. For the week, he said, he’d been paid $225. Or $5 per hour. “There’s nothing to do but take it,” Pedro said in an interview earlier this month, recalling his workweek. By