As Wage Theft Rises, States And Cities Crack Down

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

(12-17) 09:38 PST Chicago (AP) --

Fabian Gutierrez logged more than 60 hours a week slicing meat and stocking shelves with cheeses and milk at a neighborhood grocery for less than minimum wage and no overtime.

The 32-year-old Mexican immigrant said he put up with the situation for months because he was desperate to support his wife and young daughter. And like many co-workers, he was afraid to challenge his boss.

"All of us took abuse. We were disrespected," said Gutierrez, who found help at a workers' rights center, joined with other workers to sue the owner of La Fruteria and now works at another grocery store that he says treats him better.

Across the nation, the long-simmering problem of employers who don't pay their workers appears to be getting worse, especially for immigrant laborers.

In the absence of aggressive federal action, some states and local governments have begun to tackle the issue on their own. They say employers who don't pay overtime or minimum wage are unlikely to pay into state workers' compensation or unemployment insurance funds — bilking taxpayers even as they're cheating workers.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/12/17/national/a000127S29.DTL#ixzz0Zy8zan3c

[90-percent]

1. WE ARE ALL WAGE SLAVES NOW!

We're corporate serfs living in the 14th century, but with Blackberries.

-90% jimmy

[Raster]

3. It won't be long until your Crackberry delivers electric shocks in addition to your email.

[WriteDown]

2. "Gutierrez, a soft-spoken, husky man who declined to discuss his immigration status..."

Please tell me again how illegal immigrant do not depress wages! I want to hear that story again!

[Occulus]

4. This happens to US citizens as well

Remember Wal-Mart?

[WriteDown]

5. Walmart pays below minimum wage?

This is a whole different league here. Try to get a job as a construction laborer these days and see what I mean.

[LanternWaste]

6. Don't know about that...

"Walmart pays below minimum wage?"

Don't know about that, but last year they did pay over 350 million dollars in a settlement claiming that it forced employees to work off the clock, erased hours from time cards and prevented workers from taking lunch and other breaks that were promised by the company and guaranteed by state laws.

I would think that the above excesses are just as bad as paying below minimum wage-- both illegal and immoral regardless of the victim's nationality. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

[groundloop]

7. My wife has to work off the clock

She works in a school cafeteria (and thus is a state employee) and managers are told how many hours per day employees are allowed to work. If they don't have all the cleaning done and food put back in the coolers by her assigned quittine time she and a few of her co-workers stay and finish off the clock. I keep insisting that she stand her ground but they're all afraid to. Yes, this is a real problem, and often in places where you wouldn't expect it.