HIWJ Releases Wage Theft Report
Wednesday, 17 November 2010 00:00 | 
Written by Administrator | 
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The report highlights the following findings:
- Wage theft is by definition a wrongful act; it is stealing from workers what they have rightfully earned. The injustice is particularly egregious in that it is stealing from the poor. Wage theft and other forms of worker abuse disproportionately impact those who already live in poverty.
- Worker abuse is widespread in the Houston region and nationally. The hundreds of cases denounced to the Worker Center impacted a total of 1,519 workers. Yet these are only a fraction of the total number of abuses. Many workers are unable to report their cases because they are fearful of losing their jobs, do not know who to contact, or simply do not have the time and other resources to file complaints.
- Wage theft is not just a problem facing immigrant workers. It affects all kinds of workers, but especially low-wage workers. It causes poverty and suffering for families struggling to stay afloat in one of the richest cities of the country.
- Wage theft and other workplace violations are systematic abuses. Rather than a “few bad apples” – or employers who do not follow labor law –the barrel itself is rotten. Impunity, encouraged through the lack of enforcement, leads to an increase in abuses.
- Wage theft is unfair competition: employers paying prevailing wages cannot successfully compete with businesses that reducetheir production costs by not paying their workers what they are owed.
- Everyone can do something to stop wage theft in our city. Employers can pay workers legally and fairly, workers can organize and demand their rights, consumers can take responsibility for the products and services purchased. We can all act in solidarity as people of faith and conscience to stop this crime that brings suffering to so many workers and their families and shame to our city.