Students at Loyola University prepared a video on wage theft for a class. Posted in three parts, the video shows the faces of wage theft, connects the issue to Catholic social teaching, outlines the problems and follows workers and leaders from Chicago Interfaith Workers Center as they attempt to collect stolen wages from a bakery owner. Check it out here.
On December 24, 2008 Wal-Mart publicly announced that it has agreed to settle 63 lawsuits filed against it for wage theft. Clearly, the company has decided (finally) to put these suits behind it. Wal-Mart has agreed to settle most of the suits if the various judges involved will agree. The settlement is expected to range from $352 million to $640 million depending upon how many workers file claims. Given that Wal-Mart is often a trend setter in society, let’s hope that other companies follow suit and quickly settle claims for stolen wages. More importantly, let’s hope employers stop wage theft before it occurs. Read the full story.
On December 9, 2008, Wal-Mart agreed to pay $54 million to up to 100,000 workers in Minnesota who were underpaid by Walmart. The workers worked through lunch and rest breaks and worked off the clock. Given that one judge had threatened the company with punitive damages as high as $2 billion, the company saw fit to settle the case before going to court and face punitive damages. Check out the story.
Title: Book Discussion & Signing
Location: Changing Hands Bookstore
Description: 6428 S McClintock
Tempe, AZ 85283
Start Time: 19:00
Date: 2009-01-31
Title: Book Discussion & Signing
Location: Women and Children First Book Store
Description: 5233 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL
Start Time: 19:30
Date: 2009-01-09
Finally, an employer who paid cash wages, denying workers the payroll taxes and workers compensation supposed to be paid by their employers and cheating the government of revenues, was jailed for wrong doing. The hidden payroll generated an estimated $10 million loss to the IRS and an additional $7 million to workers’ compensation insurance companies. Read more about the story here.
Several years ago, Interfaith Worker Justice organized several religious delegations to meet with workers in Cintas plants to learn about working conditions. We heard about various problems and eventually wrote and issued a report entitled Airing Dirty Laundry. One groups of workers we talked with were the workers in California who recently were awarded a significant back wage settlement. Read more about the story here: http://www.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2008/09/08/daily74.html.
The new book Wage Theft in America can be purchased from a variety of place. If you want relatively small numbers of copies and want to support the fight against wage theft, order from Interfaith Worker Justice because the organization gets the profits. Large quantities, with good discounts, should be ordered from The New Press.
If there is an independent bookstore in your area, consider purchasing your copy from it in order to support local businesses. The following local bookstores are known to carry the book: Busboys and Poets (Washington, DC), Changing Hands (Phoenix) and Women and Children First (Chicago).
You can also order online from the AFL-CIO Union Shop, Powells Book Store (a union store), Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Borders. See the Buy the Book section for quantity purchasing information.