The Crisis of Wage Theft

[Joanne98]

Billions of dollars in wages are being illegally stolen from millions of workers each and every year, writes Kim Bobo, in this excerpt from her new book Wage Theft in America (The New Press)
By Kim Bobo November 24, 2008

A few years ago, I heard about a garment factory near my house where workers weren't making the minimum wage, or so I was told. I couldn't believe that such a place operated four blocks from where I live. I didn't even know it existed.

I'd heard about this place because some workers had visited the Chicago Interfaith Workers Center and told their stories. In addition, I'd heard that this place was a sole subcontractor for a leading national company. I wanted to know what was going on.

With the help of Interfaith Worker Justice colleagues, we organized a fact-finding delegation of religious leaders to investigate what was going on. One cold Chicago morning, twenty-five of us dropped in at the factory. The place was located in a largely residential neighborhood in a small turn-of-the-century industrial building that faces the Metra train stop. There was no sign outside identifying the facility. The front door was unlocked, so we marched on up to the second floor.

Sure enough, when we opened the second door at the top of the stairs, we stepped into a small entryway, which then had a door opening to a large high-ceiling room full of Latina immigrant women huddled over sewing machines. Despite twenty-five folks, including some in clerical collars, dropping in unexpectedly, no one looked up from their machines. (I can't believe it was because they were accustomed to regular visitors.)

Continued>>>
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/4061/the_crisis_of_wage_theft