The owner of several downtown New York boutiques was arrested recently and faces four years in jail as well as civil lawsuits for up to $1.5 million. His crime? Not paying his employees for overtime, and paying some of them a flat rate of $340 a week for over 60 hours of work.
Carolina Ferreyra was one of those employees, and when she found a flyer for the Retail Action Project, she helped to launch a protest that led to her boss's arrest. She joins us in studio with Phil Andrews of the Retail Action Project and Paul Sonn, legal co-director of the National Employment Law Project, to talk about wage theft, the problems workers face across the country--and what Obama's administration is doing to fight them.
I remember a case where an IWW member worked at a car wash and didn’t get paid for a week’s pay, I think in Chicago. The IWW picketed and blocked the entry of the car wash, shutting it down. After only the first few hours, the thieving boss relented as paid the worker his wages. (He hadn’t been fired or reprimanded, it was simply a case of wage theft).
Most workers don’t have some organized group to help, or legal assistance. Wage theft hurts lots of workers, from mostly immigrant day laborers to plenty of others. I’ve even had some cases. Yet the bosses post cameras on their workers and pay into a cottage industry of preventing ‘theft’ by poorly paid workers!
By criticiseafterdinner on March 3rd, 2010 at 12:53 pm
when I letft school and started working.I learned very quickly not to trust anyone.Poeple will cheat and lie to you at every oppertunity.I was fortunate enough to have been the son and grandson of Union menbers.Attempts to cheat me didnot get very far.
By shadow on March 7th, 2010 at 9:48 am