by DC Jobs with Justice | Feb 3, 2014 | Actions & Events, Campaigns, Wage Theft
Tomorrow, February 4th promises to be an important day for working people at the DC Council legislative hearing. First, Councilmember Vincent Orange has pledged to introduce a bill on combating wage theft – a bill which would increase penalties for employers who rob their workers of wages, beef up enforcement at the Dept. of Employment Services, and strengthen protections for workers who blow the whistle on bad employers. On top of that, tomorrow’s hearing will also include a vote on a bill that would decriminalize marijuana possession. In July of last year, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs released a study revealing that people of color in DC were disproportionately arrested, especially for nonviolent crimes and drug offenses. DC residents and community organizations have long organized around this issue of our law enforcement effectively criminalizing certain populations, and this vote – if successful – would be one more step toward eradicating this injustice. With the vote tomorrow, it is worth noting that one Councilmember – at-large CM Anita Bonds – spoke definitively just last week about her support for decriminalization. See the video below for her statement. [youtube height=”HEIGHT”...
by dcjwjeditor | Mar 7, 2013 | Actions & Events, Immigrant Rights, Projects, Trabajadores Unidos de DC / United Workers of DC, Wage Theft
Chants of “la lucha – sí, la lucha – sí” (the struggle -yes, the struggle – yes) echoed off the DC Council chamber walls as more than 50 workers and community activists packed the Wilson Building on Monday, March 4th to demand more protections for workers against wage theft. DC Jobs with Justice, United Workers of DC, and the DC Wage Theft Coalition accompanied workers as they presented Councilmember Marion Barry with a giant paper bill for outstanding unpaid wages. The bill totaled more than $260,000, yet only represented the wage theft claims of about 40 workers, a small number of the many more victimized by wage theft in Washington, DC. Pledging to seek justice for the workers, Councilmember Barry quoted Frederick Douglass: “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will.” With that, the group filed into the performance oversight hearing for the Department of Employee Services. Witness after witness testified about the inability of the Office of Wage-Hour to protect workers who struggle to recover their rightfully owed wages. United Workers of DC President Carlos Castillo explained, “Without significant changes, going to the Office of Wage-Hour to file claims often becomes a waste of time, of money, and of opportunity to find a good option for daily work for a day laborer.” Moved by this and the many other testimonies from workers and advocates, Councilmember Barry vowed to investigate the workers’ claims, to explore new resources, systems, and funding for the Office of Wage-Hour, and to consider proposing legislation to protect workers against wage theft. Coming off a tremendous victory at popular Georgetown restaurants,...
by dcjwjeditor | Feb 13, 2013 | Actions & Events, Trabajadores Unidos de DC / United Workers of DC, Wage Theft
On Wednesday, February 6, three former workers of two popular restaurants in Georgetown won a combined $4,237 in unpaid wages. After many months of struggling for their pay, the workers returned to the restaurant with more than 50 allies from the community, who stood outside the restaurants to ensure that the three workers were paid. Sure enough, just minutes later, the workers emerged with their newly won wages. Fresh off its victory, the group held a rally at which the workers repeatedly stressed the importance of fellow worker, community, and student support in the effort to reclaim stolen wages. DC Jobs with Justice, La Unión de Trabajadores and the rest of the DC Wage Theft Coalition – a group of labor, legal services, and workers’ rights organizations – will continue to support workers in the campaign to end wage theft in Washington, DC. But we can’t do it alone. We needed your support with wage theft at Georgetown restaurants, and we’ll need it again as we continue to send the message that we won’t tolerate wage theft in our city. Thank you so much for standing in solidarity with the Georgetown restaurant workers. Please take the pledge so we can keep you in the loop as we join more and more workers in the fight against wage theft. ...
by dcjwjeditor | Dec 7, 2012 | Guest Blog, Immigrant Rights, Trabajadores Unidos de DC / United Workers of DC, Wage Theft
Guest Blog Post from Barbra A. Kavanaugh December 4, 2012 Everyone knows what theft is, but I am constantly surprised by how few people know what “wage theft” is. Simply put, wage theft is when employers refuse to pay employees the wages they have earned, either by denying them the minimum wage, overtime or frequently, simply not paying them at all. Every week, more than two-thirds of low-wage workers experience at least one incident of wage theft. At a time when many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, for many of the clients we see, even just one incident of wage theft can result in unpaid rent, car repossession or homelessness. One of the most common ways that employers steal wages is by misclassifying their employees as independent contractors to avoid paying the legally required minimum wage and overtime pay. Workers who are wrongly labeled as independent contractors are cheated of many of the legal protections afforded to employees – including minimum wage and overtime. No matter what an employer calls a worker, the law determines whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor. Although there is no hard and fast rule, the more control an employer has over the circumstances of a worker’s employment, the more likely it is that the worker should be considered an employee, and not an independent contractor. For example, if an employer controls the hours that someone works, where they work and provides their equipment, that person is not likely to be an independent contractor. Too often, employers take advantage of workers’ ignorance on this issue, and deny rightful wages, overtime, breaks,...
