Posted on 07/30/2007 12:40:04 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
Local advocates hope to recoup pay in problem plaguing nation
Francisco Ramos worked a 40-hour week in June, framing houses in south Houston for promised wages of $320. But on payday, the 26-year-old carpenter got nothing.
His contractor dropped him off later that evening empty-handed.
A month later, he's still waiting for his wages — as are thousands of other immigrants across the U.S. and Houston.
Wage theft is widespread among mostly illegal immigrant workers, especially those who are recruited on street corners and work in the shadows of the American labor force. And that work-related exploitation appears to be growing along with the country's immigrant population.
In the nation's first comprehensive study of day laborers, called ''On the Corner," UCLA researchers interviewed 2,660 workers at 264 hiring sites in 20 states, including Texas and the District of Columbia. The 2006 study concluded that almost half of all day laborers experienced at least one instance of wage theft in the two months prior to being surveyed.
In Houston, a national worker's advocacy group opened an office near downtown in April to recover wages lost by mostly immigrant workers. The Houston Interfaith Worker Justice Center is handling cases of wage loss mostly among immigrants hired by small businesses, contractors and individuals.
But if an immigrant — undocumented or not — is working for an employer with revenues exceeding $500,000 annually, a complaint can be referred to the U.S. Department of Labor's wage and hour division.
In the department's Houston district, the number of immigrants bringing wage complaints has risen dramatically, with 842 seeking back pay in fiscal 2006. That is up from the 371 in 2005 and 172 the year before, according to the Labor Department.
In the Houston district, the department identified $2.9 million in back wages owed to immigrants...
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Perhaps if these illegals had come to the USA legally and worked legally, then they would have a better chance of being paid. I have zero sympathy for these individuals. In fact, I hope they tell all their buddies who want to follow them into the USA illegally that this country sucks and you don’t even get paid for the work you do.
This is the results of being in the shadows. One illegal act fosters another one. The contractor shouhd have his ass kicked and the illegal should be forced to pay his own way back home!!!!
This does happen a lot, and the backlash is crime...
The cost of illegal labor is more expensive than one might think.
Owl_Eagle
If what I just wrote made you sad or angry,
it was probably just a joke.
Well, duh. That’s one of the many advantages to businesses that hire illegals.
It makes perfect sense to me, opening employers up to lawsuits like that would stop them dead in their tracks from hiring anyone who could sue them for big bucks in court.
Francisco Ramos worked a 40-hour week in June, framing houses in south Houston for promised wages of $320. But on payday, the 26-year-old carpenter got nothing.
I'm confused. I thought the idea of day labor was that you paid/got paid every day. If you get paid at the end of the week are you really "day" labor?
Prosecute the contractors for hiring illegals AND for not paying them. Deport the illegals.
I’m sympathetic to the workers, but since they don’t pay taxes, I don’t think they should be able to use government resources (agencies, courts, etc...) to pursue their cases.
Attention Lefties: That is why citizenship is a special status that must be guarded with and protected. That is why we just don’t give it away, but it must be granted only to those who deserve it and who want it sufficiently they are willing to work for it.
Attention Lefties: That is why people should not come here illegally, for the law cannot and should not protect them. It is one of the good incentives to conduct your affairs legally, and why people who don’t intend to should not want to come here.
I wouldn't want to be one of these employers when he dies though, that's for sure.
There are laws against slavery. Employers are taking a big chance if they rip them off.
Round of applause!
So?
I Love your analysis, it’s spot on.
let’s see...$320/40 = $8.00
No taxes FICA / SS taken out. No wonder the scumbag builders who hire illegals love them. They wind up paying less than minimum wage (adjusted for taxes).
15 years ago framing jobs around here were paying $18.00 per hour. The price of labor has gone down. Has the price of new home construction gone down? So the scumbag builders who hire illegals are screwing the home owners as well as the rest of us taxpayers in the US.
The IRS is suffering from “wage theft” in the form of tax evasion by these illegal invaders. For the life of me I cannot understand why we don’t go after these people on the same tactics that were used to nab Al Capone. These people are criminals!
Isn’t that sort of like me trying to get the authorities involved if I don’t get my share of a bank heist?
__________
LOL. Or going to the cops after you’ve had your stash stolen.
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