California has become the first U.S. state to eliminate paying garment workers by the piece or unit, and will instead pay them by the hour. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed Senate Bill 62, also known as the Garment Worker Protection Act, which creates new “nation-leading” policies that will end the practice that has prevented thousands of workers in the garment industry from earning the minimum wage. The new legislation also expands fashion brands’ liability for unpaid wages, including wage theft by contractors, and makes California the first state to create liability for companies that subcontract with the garment makers. Due to vicious price competition, California’s garment industry is rife in violating the minimum wage law, overtime law, and health and safety standards. Los Angeles has the highest concentration of garment industry workers in the United States, with an estimated 2,000 manufacturers employing more than 40,000 people, predominantly immigrant women, who can spend up to 12 hours …