Pin Qin Xuan, “How Hard Everyone Works”

This photograph of a worker in a cluttered garment factory was made by Pin Qin Xuan, a garment worker and member of Local 23-35 Unite Here in New York City. It is included in Unseen America: Photos and Stories by Workers (Regan Books, 2006). “It can get very hot in the factories,” the photographer wrote.

Local 23-25 UNITE HERE represents workers in New York’s garment industry, most of whom are immigrants from China, Latin America, and the Caribbean. They work as sewing machine operators, cutters, pressers, and sample makers.