A recent victory over wage theft shows what workers everywhere need to claw back their stolen pay—support, resources and enforcement.
by Mindy Isser, In These Times
In recent years, mainstream media has been dominated by stories of increased crime, but rarely do outlets cover one of the most common and insidious offenses in our society: wage theft.
Employers steal billions of dollars from workers every year by paying less than minimum wage, making employees work off the clock, not paying earned overtime, misclassifying workers as independent contractors and more. While wage theft is all too common, it is rarely reported. As a result, stolen wages are rarely recovered, leaving already-low wage workers even poorer — and bosses even richer. But around the country, workers have been fighting back by organizing with unions and using the tools available to them at labor departments on the municipal, state and federal levels.
In January, non-union construction workers at Unforgettable Coatings LLC who partnered with the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) scored a major victory in the fight against wage theft by winning back more than $3 million that had been stolen from them. IUPAT’s success has shown that fighting back against wage theft is possible — although it can require time and resources that many workers lack.
Recent Posts
Feeding The Warfare State
Take Action Now We Lose, the Weapons Makers WinBy William D. Hartung, Tom Dispatch The Senate is on the verge of passing the distinctly misnamed…
The Rage Of Billionaires And The Frenzy To Stop Zohran Mamdani From Becoming New York’s Mayor
Take Action Now The constellation of forces now regrouping with a vengeance includes titans of Wall Street, enormous real estate interests,…
It’s Not Just The Cities. Extreme Heat Is A Growing Threat To Rural America.
Take Action Now The urban heat island sits in a rural heat ocean.By Umair Irfan, Vox Summer has officially begun with a blast of scorching…
Mamdani’s Massive Victory Should Show Democrats Where The Party’s Future Lies
Take Action Now NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has thrown the drowning Democratic Party a life vest. Will its leaders use it?By Sam…