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Wage Theft
Wage Theft
 Wage theft is
the crime no one talks about. Each year, thousands of Mid-South workers and
millions
of workers across the country are
victims of wage theft. A
landmark
study by the National
Employment Law Project has found that 2 in 3 low-wage
workers
in major cities have experienced some form of wage theft.
Workers
Interfaith Network also did a
survey of low-wage Memphis
workers in
October 2009 that found similar results.
Too many
employers break the law by paying less than
the minimum wage,
failing to pay overtime, or in many cases
not paying workers at all for
days or even weeks' worth of work.
It's time to bring the crime of wage theft
out of the
shadows and in to the light of day, where it can be
stopped.
Workers Interfaith Network is addressing the
crisis of wage theft on several fronts:
1) WIN is urging the Shelby County Sherriff
and the District Attorney to do their
part to stop wage theft.
Right now, if workers don't get paid, in most cases their only legal options are
to file a
complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor or pay a lawyer
to represent them in court.
This process can take months or even years, and most workers who experience wage theft
don't have money for a lawyer. That's
why WIN is calling on Shelby County law enforcement
to recognize wage
theft as a crime, so that workers can file criminal charges
against
employers who do not pay them for their work.
Take Action:
Sign our online petition, or help us collect
written petitions that
will be presented in person to the Sheriff and District
Attorney.
Download a
petition and collect signatures from your friends, neighbors, co-workers and
family
members who live in Shelby County. Mail the petition back to
WIN. We also have a
flyer about wage theft
you can use to educate others about wage theft as you collect signatures. 2)
WIN's Workers' Center project
organizes workers who have experienced wage theft to
win the stolen wages that are owed
to them. The Workers' Center uses a process of negotiation, legal
assistance, and community organizing to recover stolen wages. If you are a worker who has experienced wage
theft,
contact
Alfredo Peņa to learn how WIN
may be able to assist you in recovering your wages.
3) WIN is part of a national campaign to
reform the Department of Labor and its response to wage theft.
Along with thousands of others across the country who organize workers who have
experienced wage theft,
we are urging the Department of Labor to focus
more of its resources on the crisis of wage theft, and increase
the number of
investigators dedicated to wage theft. A
report issued by the federal
government's Government Accountability Office (GAO) in
July 2008 found
that the U.S. Department of Labor may be failing to protect workers
from wage theft. From 1997 - 2007, the report found, the Department of Labor
issued
one third less enforcement actions against employers violating
wage and hour laws.
4)
WIN and our allies across Tennessee have just kicked off a statewide campaign to improve the
TN Department of
Labor's response to wage theft and unsafe working conditions.
To
take part in the campaign,
sign up for email newsletter and you'll receive
action alerts.
You can help stop wage theft by
volunteering to be part of
delegations with workers who haven't been
paid for their work. By
signing up for our email newsletter, you'll also be notified of
times you can
make a phone call or send an email to an employer who hasn't paid
his or her
workers.
You can
learn more about the experience of day laborers, who are frequent
victims of
wage theft, by organizing a small group from your congregation
to participate in our
Water is Sacred, Work is Sacred project. You
can also learn more about wage theft by reading
the book
Wage Theft in
America, written by Kim Bobo, director of the national organization
Interfaith
Worker Justice.
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You Can Stop Wage Theft:
