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 ...
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.
No sympathy here.
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.
Hmm ... maybe if more contractors did this the idiots would go home.
Which criminal to cheer on .... decisions .. decisions.
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?
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.
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.
In this situation the contractor is guilty of the crime hiring an illegal for work.
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.
When do we see the headline
Don't hold your breath.
...or calling the cops because your weed was stolen?
They should not be exploited. This country needs a simple, swift, legal process for bringing workers into the country.
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.
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?
ping
Standing “O”!!!!
No sympathy here.
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.
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