‘Slavery’ in Syracuse, Wage Theft Epidemic, Spur Nationwide Protests

[marmar]

from In These Times:



‘Slavery’ in Syracuse, Wage Theft Epidemic, Spur Nationwide Protests

Friday
12 Nov 10
9:01 am

By Art Levine


Activists in more than 30 cities, organized by Interfaith Worker Justice and backed by labor groups, are staging a National Day of Action Against Wage Theft on November 18. "As the crisis for working families in the economy has deepened, so too has the crisis of wage theft," says Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) Executive Director Kim Bobo, perhaps the country's leading reformer addressing the ongoing scandal.

As much as $19 billion is stolen from American workers annually in unpaid overtime and minimum wage violations and, in some cases, through the human trafficking of legal immigrant workers. The latest case to come to light involves alleged horrendous conditions for immigrant workers reportedly hoodwinked in Mexico by a food services contractor for the New York State Fair and kept in near-slavery conditions of $2 an hour.

Indeed, the scandal surfaced when some of these legal guest workers showed up several weeks ago at a Syracuse area clinic, severely dehydrated and malnourished after allegedly being kept in virtual imprisonment in a trailer at the fair and at other locations; they were reportedly being denied thousands of dollars in legal wages owed them while working about 100 hours a week at fairs for months, according to legal filings and Danny Postel, communications coordinator for Interfaith Worker Justice.

"It's one of the most shocking cases of wage theft," Postel says. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/6663/slavery_in_syracuse_wage_theft_epidemic_spur_nationwide_protests/

[LiberalEsto]

1. It's rampant in the IT field

If my husband could get back pay for all the unpaid hours he's put in as a systems analyst and then a database administrator, we'd actually have some savings and a shot at retirement some day. I was practically a single parent when our kids were little, because MadDave was working late and working on weekends and holidays.
Yesterday was Veterans Day, and naturally he had to work. His current employer doesn't believe in letting their IT workers time to themselves. Nor do they want to pay for all this labor.

[surrealAmerican]

2. The people who did this (in Syracuse) need to be in jail.

Financial penalties are not enough for these types of crimes.

[End Of The Road]

3. There are some criminal penalties for wage theft

but they usually don't kick in until the second offense. (I'm not a lawyer, just know a bit about HR)