|
|
By Ricardo Valadez, on January 15th, 2010 National Workers’ Rights Board hearing exposes wage theft, safety violations; highlights need for collective bargaining for car wash workers in Los Angeles, Nation.
 Yesterday at Los Angeles City Hall, members of the Jobs with Justice National Workers’ Rights Board (WRB) were joined by other distinguished guests to hear gripping testimony about the hazards facing car wash workers. Over 250 union and community members packed the room to overflowing to hear from workers, consumer, health and safety advocates, and United Steel Workers President Leo Gerard.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa addressed the panel and the audience, thanking the WRBs’ leadership for protecting workers, and praising the courage of the workers who are speaking out. The Mayor pledged to remain engaged in this fight. “We look forward to reviewing the recommendations from this board for addressing abuses in this industry,” said the Mayor. “It’s important the public understand what’s going on at car washes in Los Angeles.”
Car wash workers reported being paid less than half of California’s $8 an hour minimum wage and some reported they are
Continue reading Cardinal, Los Angeles Mayor Hear from Car Wash Workers
By Pete Meyers, on January 5th, 2010  On December 10th, the New York State Department of Labor’s (DOL) Commissioner Patricia Smith, announced in a joint press conference [video here] with the Tompkins County Workers’ Center and Ithaca Mayor Carolyn Peterson, the findings of a targeted DOL investigation of 22 Tompkins County restaurants. In May 2009, investigators from the DOL’s Division of Labor Standards and Unemployment Insurance found that five of the restaurants – 23 percent – were in full compliance with labor laws. However, the other 17 restaurants – 77 percent of those visited – were found to have violated New York State Labor Laws. Specifically, the DOL found that $87,925 is owed to 93 employees at 6 restaurants for violations such as failure to pay minimum wage and illegal deductions from workers’ paychecks. Commissioner Smith said:
I’m encouraged by the fact that almost one-quarter of the restaurants we checked were in full compliance with labor laws. To them I say thank you – thank you for treating your workers fairly and thank you for playing by the rules. Ultimately,
Continue reading Sweep of Ithaca Restaurants Finds Labor Law Violations at Most
By Smiley, on November 5th, 2009 Tennesseans, like others around the country, have watched in horror as the effective enforcement of labor standards dramatically declined. Many employers in the state have been quick to take advantage of a climate that has privileged business interests over workers and their unions. Meanwhile, many agencies charged with upholding workplace standards have lacked the resources, or in some cases the political will, to firmly and consistently enforce the law. And it’s workers and their families that have paid the price!
This fall, Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee (based in Knoxville), Middle Tennessee Jobs with Justice (based in Nashville), and the Worker Interfaith Network of Memphis joined forces in a statewide effort to bring to light some of the worst cases of abuse, such as wage theft and violations of workplace health and safety.
Targeting primarily the Tennessee Department of Labor and the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA), the 3 groups are gearing up for a statewide series of workers’ rights board hearings to receive testimony from immigrant workers who have had their pay withheld for no reason, sheet-metal workers who have had to work in unsafe conditions, and a number of other worker stories.
“We had a torrent
Continue reading Tennessee Hosts Traveling Workers’ Rights Board Tour on Wage Theft and Safety Violations
By Debbie Kline, on November 3rd, 2009 Debbie Kline is Coordinator of Cleveland Jobs with Justice.
 Unless you are a real news junkie and read the Business Section of your local newspaper or know one of the former employees, this is one story you may have missed.
InkStop was a chain of 152 convenience stores for office supplies that stocked ink cartridges and small electronics. The stores were located in small plazas in communities where big box office supply stores did not exist. InkStop owner Dirk Kettlewell boasted that the chain would be profitable by the end of this year by using over $80 million from private investors. This was supposed to be the “Sleeping Beauty” business story of the decade, but instead it turned into something that rivals “Psycho.”
The first blow came when all 152 InkStop stores were closed without warning on October 1st. It was business as usual earlier in the day. As the doors were locked for the night, the devastating news came via a faxed and emailed letter to employees to tell them: No more jobs and no pay for the last three weeks of work. This news was
Continue reading InkStop Stores Dry Up, Owing Workers Pay and Health Care
By jwjnational, on August 26th, 2009 Cross-posted from Massachusetts Jobs with Justice
 After nine months of organizing a grassroots campaign to recover their salaries and educate the immigrant community about their rights as workers, a group of Latino immigrant workers have recovered their salaries that had been unjustly denied them by a cleaning company that subcontracted with Boston area restaurant chain Legal Sea Food.
More than 30 immigrant workers employed by different subcontracting companies to clean in the Cheesecake Factory and Legal Sea Food restaurants were paid with bad checks or not paid at all for regular and overtime hours worked. “The workers are eager to continue the campaign to recover all of their wages, as only one company has agreed to pay so far and there are still workers who have had their rights violated,” stated Yessenia Alfaro, Organizing Director of the Chelsea Collaborative and board member of the Massachusetts Jobs with Justice.
“The violation of labor rights is a systemic problem affecting all workers in this country and immigrant workers are even more vulnerable to this exploitation,” said Patricia Montes, Centro Presente’s Executive Director. “The Department of Labor must invest resources into the enforcement
Continue reading Immigrant Workers in Boston Win Unpaid Wages
|
Sign Up for Jobs with Justice
RSS Feeds from Local JwJ Coalitions
|
