Wage theft rally in Madison
We’ve all heard of employee theft, but what about employers who steal from workers? According to Patrick Hickey with Madison’s Workers’ Rights Center, it’s a growing problem. At a rally at the Capitol, Hickey said federal legislation would extend the two year statute of limitations that the Department of Labor has to meet in its attempts to recover unpaid wages. Hickey said it generally takes the department three to four years to resolve complaints. He said the WRC filed a complaint on behalf of some restaurant workers in Madison two and a half years ago. The investigation is ongoing, and if it’s ever resolved in the workers’ favor “they won’t see a dime,” said Hickey. Hickey said the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development does a pretty good job handling complaints, but that there needs to be tougher enforcement at the federal level.
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Sarah White from the Center on Wisconsin Strategy at UW Madison said low wage workers are getting “stiffed” in Wisconsin. “It is not happening in overseas sweatshops, it’s happening right here,” said White. “This is a huge trend that’s shaping the American workplace, and threatening, really our whole economic recovery here in Wisconsin and around the country.” White said the low wage workers who are denied their wages spend most of their money in local economies. She noted that many employers who engage in wage find it’s cheaper to withhold wages and pay the fines, then it is to pay workers what they’re owed. She noted that also gives those businesses an unfair advantage over competing businesses who are playing by the rules. [click to continue…]
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