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[Illegal] Day workers plagued by wage theft
Houston Chronicle ^ | July 30, 2007 | JAMES PINKERTON

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 ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aliens; aliensimmigrantlist; corruption; immigrantlist; immigration; texas
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To: AppyPappy
There are laws against slavery. Employers are taking a big chance if they rip them off.

Slavery, among other defining characteristsics, is forcing people to perform work for you against their will.

These men were willing, but were not paid - hence, they are victims of fraud, not slaves.

The fraudulent employers are hoping that there will not be sufficient evidence to convict them.

21 posted on 07/30/2007 1:11:20 PM PDT by wideawake
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To: SwinneySwitch

No sympathy here.


22 posted on 07/30/2007 1:16:12 PM PDT by freeangel ( (free speech is only good until someone else doesn't like what you say))
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To: Abathar

Ann Coulter had the perfect way to stop contractors from hiring illegal aliens. She proposed allowing them to sue the employers (even though they are illegals) for failing to pay them minimum wage.
____________

Thinking is not exactly Ann’s forte. Would she be proposing amnesty and / or no risk of deportation for the illegal? Of course not. So when the illegal weighs the risk and reward, it’s all risk and no reward. There is no real upside for the illegal, so no lawsuits would ever be filed.


23 posted on 07/30/2007 1:16:27 PM PDT by dmz
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To: SwinneySwitch
Oh damn ... what a crime ....

Hmm ... maybe if more contractors did this the idiots would go home.

Which criminal to cheer on .... decisions .. decisions.

24 posted on 07/30/2007 1:28:16 PM PDT by Centurion2000 (Killing all of your enemies without mercy is the only sure way of sleeping soundly at night.)
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To: pnh102

I take it you don’t believe the workman is worthy of his hire. It doesn’t matter if the guy is “illegal” or not. If you hire someone and don’t pay them, it’s theft and the person who does this is scum.

What is this, a loophole in the “thou shalt not steal” rule?


25 posted on 07/30/2007 1:28:27 PM PDT by rpgdfmx
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To: ontap
The contractor shouhd have his ass kicked and the illegal should be forced to pay his own way back home!!!!

I see no reason the contractor should be punished at all.

Every contractor should do this and the illegal problem will vanish.

You want to get paid for your work? Work in a country where you’re legal.

26 posted on 07/30/2007 1:30:20 PM PDT by Cheburashka (DUmmieland = Opus Dopium. In all senses of the word dope.)
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To: rpgdfmx
What is this, a loophole in the “thou shalt not steal” rule?

The employer hiring the illegal is no less guilty of a crime, and should be prosecuted. But from the perspective of the illegal... karma is a female dog.

27 posted on 07/30/2007 1:30:57 PM PDT by pnh102
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To: Cheburashka
I see no reason the contractor should be punished at all.

In this situation the contractor is guilty of the crime hiring an illegal for work.

28 posted on 07/30/2007 1:33:56 PM PDT by pnh102
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To: Cheburashka

While I see your reasoning there’s something about working a guy all day and not paying him. This contractor is not doing this to help the country. He’s the lowest form of whales*&t there is and I have no doubt that he’s done it to Americans too.


29 posted on 07/30/2007 1:35:44 PM PDT by ontap (Just another backstabbing conservative)
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To: SwinneySwitch
Day Workers Plagued by Wage Theft

When do we see the headline

American Workers Plagued by Job Theft

Don't hold your breath.

30 posted on 07/30/2007 1:37:01 PM PDT by Regulator
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To: Owl_Eagle

...or calling the cops because your weed was stolen?


31 posted on 07/30/2007 1:37:55 PM PDT by RockinRight (Fred Thompson once set fire to a crowd of liberals simply by smoking a cigar and looking upon them)
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To: SwinneySwitch

They should not be exploited. This country needs a simple, swift, legal process for bringing workers into the country.


32 posted on 07/30/2007 1:38:30 PM PDT by Leftism is Mentally Deranged
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To: SwinneySwitch
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.


Actually, they just had a lesson about the intersection of free markets
with the lassez faire approach to border control.

And they still didn't go back to Mexico et al.
That shows just how incredibly freakin' screwed up their
beloved "home" countries are.
33 posted on 07/30/2007 1:45:03 PM PDT by VOA
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To: pnh102
So? I don’t know what you’re objective is, but my objective is to make the illegals go home. When the illegals go home the contractors won’t be committing a crime.

When someone gets ripped off in a drug deal the government doesn't make it a priority to see the ripped off party gets just compensation, why should it in this case? A contract to pay an illegal alien should be unenforceable at law.

34 posted on 07/30/2007 1:48:54 PM PDT by Cheburashka (DUmmieland = Opus Dopium. In all senses of the word dope.)
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To: ontap
When someone gets ripped off in a drug deal the government doesn’t make it a priority to see the ripped off party gets just compensation, why should it in this case? A contract to pay an illegal alien should be unenforceable at law.

A contract with a legal alien or a citizen is enforceable at law and we have state and Federal Departments of Labor to ensure that people here legally or citizens receive what they have coming. If they aren't getting it there's a reason the employee doesn't want the law involved. Their own criminal past, back child support are just a few examples.

35 posted on 07/30/2007 1:59:38 PM PDT by Cheburashka (DUmmieland = Opus Dopium. In all senses of the word dope.)
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To: SwinneySwitch

What kind of legal protection can a worker “paid under the table” expect?

How could an American have standing before the courts if he agreed with an employer to cheat the US government out off certain fees, namely income taxes...

Surely there should be no legal recourse, if during the commision of a crime, in this case tax evasion, the co-conspirators have a financial disagreement?

Even Al Capone was not above the law and was brought to justice due to his habit of not paying his taxes, rather than his responsibility for many murders and robberys....

The IRS still takes a dim view to slackers when it comes to the government coffers...

And yet again, an illegal alien is afforded a free pass on a felony?


36 posted on 07/30/2007 2:03:53 PM PDT by Tennessee Nana
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To: 1_Inch_Group; 2sheep; 2Trievers; 3AngelaD; 3pools; 3rdcanyon; 4Freedom; 4ourprogeny; 7.62 x 51mm; ..

ping


37 posted on 07/30/2007 2:31:15 PM PDT by gubamyster
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To: Tax-chick

Standing “O”!!!!


38 posted on 07/30/2007 3:08:37 PM PDT by gaemes
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To: BearCub

No sympathy here.


39 posted on 07/30/2007 3:10:20 PM PDT by gaemes
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To: SwinneySwitch; Dane

Dont feel the least bit sympathy.That is why they are here,to be used as cheap ,non educated slave labor.If they dont like getting ripped off ,then leave.


40 posted on 07/30/2007 3:40:52 PM PDT by Mn_PatriotGuard
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