Dorothy was a longtime activist with the Communication Workers of America (CWA) and the Oklahoma State AFL-CIO. In the summer of 2012, she lost her only son and found that her home, which she bought for her retirement, was in serious need of repair. That’s when her church, Journey Church, in Norman, Okla., and the state federation stepped in and did what they could to change her life.
On March 29, 2013, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez vetoed a bill passed by both the House and Senate increasing the minimum wage to $8.50. That was Good Friday – obviously Gov. Martinez wanted to do veto our raise on a day when very few were paying attention.
In addition, Gov. Martinez’s website shows no indication of this veto, or the statement she made calling the minimum wage increase a “gimmick.”
New Mexico’s low-wage workers, who number about 84,000, are getting restless. As the video shows, several workers with the group OLE New Mexico tried to contact Gov. Martinez to ask what her reasoning was behind the veto, but were blocked at every turn. Not a single staff member could give justification for this action, and most frequently got an answering machine or were asked to submit a request through the website.
Gov. Martinez lack of transparency on an issue that affects so many New Mexicans is disturbing. As the only person standing between 84,000 workers and their raise, she owes the state a better explanation of her actions.
My employer may have shorted my pay over the past three years by more than $9,400—yet I am told the only way I can recover the money is through a civil lawsuit. I live in Ohio, but the company is in Georgia, so I have to file the lawsuit in Georgia. Any suggestions or alternatives you can offer?
— Coming up short, Ohio
Answer:
When somebody gets their wallet stolen on the street, or jewelry and electronics stolen from their home, everyone gets that it’s a crime. But what if someone steals from your paycheck? It’s called “wage theft,” and it’s a growing problem for many workers.
A civil lawsuit is an option to recover unpaid wages—but it’s not the only option. Federal wage and hour laws apply to nearly all employers in the United States. Additionally, states may put in place and enforce higher wage and hour standards and stronger protections for workers in their state. Therefore, victims of wage theft—or any other wage and hour violation—should explore both state and federal remedies that might be available.
The Department of Labor has a Wage and Hour Division, which accepts and investigates complaintsabout wage theft. Wage and hour enforcement was a priority of the previous secretary of labor, Hilda Solis, and organizations that work against wage theft are encouraged by Thomas Perez, the nominee for the next secretary of labor. Additionally, several states have administrative agencies that investigate and prosecute wage and hour violations—California even has officers who investigate wage and hour violations for possible criminal prosecution.
In many cases a legal approach or lawsuit can address specific wage theft violations. But there’s another important element here—strength in numbers. Workers who are organized in unions have the protection of the law AND a collective bargaining agreement that makes sure they’re paid fairly and that there’s a remedy available when they’re not.
This is an issue that affects a lot of people, and organizations like Interfaith Worker Justice are active in raising awareness and helping people affected by wage theft.
Going to court is an option in an individual case, but we can’t just rely on lawsuits to fix the larger problem of wage theft. In our workplaces and in our communities, we need to come together to make sure companies are doing the right thing and paying their workers what they’re owed. Theft is theft, and we need tougher laws to deal with it.
“Washington has a spending problem.” “We need to stop the spending.” House Republicans since they assumed power in January 2011 have continuously touted the vague, amorphous issue of “spending” as paramount.
But they never say spending on what. Which is good for them, because they’ve flushed $55 million of your taxpayer money down the drain on 37 votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Last year, CBS News calculated that the number of hours spent on 33 repeal votes — then roughly 80 hours, or two full work weeks — cost taxpayers an estimated $48 million. Since then, Republicans have held three more votes (another $4.5 million) and will add another $1.5 million with their latest.
While Congress wastes taxpayer dollars on problems that only exist in their fevered imaginations, the rest of us are struggling with high unemployment, stagnant wages, crumbling infrastructure, and needless cuts to everything from Head Start to cancer research. Those are things that are actually happening, and they actually affect the lives of real Americans.
Either Speaker Boehner, Leader Cantor, and the rest of the gang actually focus on those problems instead of wasting taxpayer money on fake problems, or they stop with this constant faux concern about “spending.” They don’t get to do both.
Yesterday, Chris Evans, the actor who plays Captain America in the films of the same name, tweeted a link to his over 448,000 followers:
The link is to a video we submitted to Upworthy about visualizing income inequality.
The maker of the video has not taken credit for it, and is known only as YouTube user Politizane. Yet the video dominated the Internet earlier this year, reaching over 6 million views.
It’s perfectly fitting that Evans, who plays a character who struggles with what his country has become, was struck by the video. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out below:
