NDLON

City of Seattle Wage Theft Ordinance - full text is below and attached. Was passed in 2011 based on organizing campaign of Casa Latina.

AN ORDINANCE relating to wage theft; amending Seattle Municipal Code sections 5.55.230 and 12A.08.060; clarifying the definition of theft as it relates to theft of wages; providing a list of circumstances that may be considered in determining whether a person intends to commit wage theft; clarifying the City's jurisdiction in such cases; and allowing the City to refuse to issue, revoke, or refuse to renew business licenses from employers found guilty of wage theft.

Full Text of the Ordinance is attached. It was passed in 2010 as a result of WeCount organizing in Miami Dade County, Florida.

ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING CHAPTER 22 OF THE CODE OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA; PROHIBITING WAGE THEFT, PROVIDING ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES AND PRIVATE CAUSE OF ACTION FOR WAGE THEFT PROVIDING SEVERABILITY, INCLUSION IN THE CODE, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE

For Immediate Release: September 13, 2012

Contact: Nadia Marin-Molina, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , 516-984-5755

Ending Wage Theft is Crucial for Improving All Jobs, Tackling Inequality

10 WAYS TO REBUILD MIDDLE CLASS REPORT ISSUED TODAY

WASHINGTON, DC – More than 20 of America’s leading organizations on work and the economy today released a plan with 10 ways to rebuild America’s middle class . As both Presidential candidates highlight the issues of jobs and the economy, the report details ten concrete proposals to strengthen the economy for the long-term by creating good jobs and addressing the economic insecurity that has spread to millions of U.S. families. The recommendations follow several recent studies that indicate the economy is headed toward even greater inequality as middle-class jobs become more and more scarce.

The report features ending wage theft as one of the policies that are not just important for day laborers, but essential to creating sustainable jobs for the middle class. “In this economy, every worker is a day laborer, and the whole economy suffers when workers are not paid for the work they do.” said Romeo Sosa, Executive Director of Voz Workers Rights and Education Project, in Portland, Oregon. “Wage theft is far too common a problem, not just for day laborers, but in many different industries,” said Cariño Barragan, Workers Rights Organizer at Casa Latina in Seattle, Washington.

Both organizations have fought vibrant campaigns for the enactment of state and local legislation to fight wage theft by increasing enforcement against unscrupulous contractors. In Seattle, Casa Latina successfully pushed for the historic Seattle Wage Theft Law, which passed in 2011, and in Oregon, Voz continues to fight for statewide legislation against wage theft.

The report, “10 Ways to Rebuild the Middle Class for Hard Working Americans: Making Work Pay in the 21st Century,” identifies the following steps to make today’s jobs better and tomorrow’s jobs good:

1. MAKE EVERY JOB A GOOD JOB. The majority of the high-growth jobs in America—retail sales, home health and personal aides and food prep workers—pay very low wages and provide little chance of promotion. A Department of Labor proposal – just one of the fixes for this problem -- would expand protections to the nation’s 2.5 million home care workers, who work in one of the fastest-growing job categories but are excluded from minimum wage and overtime laws.
2. FIX THE MINIMUM WAGE. The Fair Minimum Wage Act would restore the lost value of the minimum wage, index it to inflation and raise the tipped-worker wage – increasing take home pay for 28 million hardworking Americans and boosting consumer spending and job creation.
3. SAVE GOOD PUBLIC AND PRIVATE JOBS. Federal, state and local governments have shrunk their workforces by 580,000 since the recession ended in 2009. And the private sector has shipped 1.2 million jobs overseas since 2008. Federal funds should be provided to state and local governments to hire back teachers, firefighters and other public employees. And the government should end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.
4. ENSURE HEALTH AND RETIREMENT SECURITY. Strengthen the partnership between employers, workers and the public by implementing the Affordable Care Act, protecting Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and establishing new retirement accounts for those workers who rely now just on Social Security.
5. UPHOLD THE FREEDOM TO JOIN A UNION. Outdated laws and corporate-driven policies have severely weakened the ability of workers to freely join together and collectively bargain. These trends have driven down wages and benefits. Fix the National Labor Relations Act to create a fair process for workers to choose union representation and restore the freedom to bargain collectively.
6. MAKE THE MODERN WORKPLACE PRO-FAMILY. The rules of the workplace haven’t kept pace with the changing economy. Earned sick days and affordable family leave are indispensable to the health of today’s workforce, our communities and economy. The Healthy Families Act would give 90% of private sector workers (in businesses of 15 or more) the ability to earn up to seven paid sick days each year to deal with personal or family illness or seek medical care.
7. STOP WAGE THEFT. Strengthen and enforce the laws against wage theft. By paying workers less than the minimum wage, not paying for overtime and sometimes not paying workers at all, unscrupulous employers are cheating workers and dragging down wages for the entire low-wage workforce.
8. REQUIRE THAT YOUR BOSS BE YOUR EMPLOYER. More and more companies are hiring permanent temp workers, paying temps and part-timers at a lower rate and giving fewer or no benefits, and misclassifying employees as independent contractors. The Department of Labor and IRS should vigorously enforce the laws meant to stop employers from mistreating actual employees.
9. GIVE UNEMPLOYED JOB-SEEKERS A REAL, FRESH START. Reauthorize federal unemployment insurance for 2013 and pass the Fair Employment Opportunity Act to end job market practices that discriminate against unemployed job seekers.
10. TOUGHEN LAWS PROTECTING WORKER SAFETY AND HEALTH. Millions of workers are injured or made sick on the job every year, and thousands die as a result. Enacting the Protect American Workers Act, for example, would modernize the Occupational Safety and Health Act to improve work safety and enforcement.

The groups issuing the report are 9to5, AFL-CIO, American Rights at Work, Blue-Green Alliance, Campaign for America’s Future, Caring Across Generations, Center for Community Change, Change To Win, Families Values @ Work, Interfaith Worker Justice, Jobs with Justice, Los Angeles Alliance for the New Economy, National Day Laborer Organizing Network, National Partnership for Women & Families, National Employment Law Project, Partnership for Working Families, Progressive States Network, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, SEIU, USAction, Wider Opportunities for Women and Working America.

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Septiembre 13, 2012

Contacto: Nadia Marin-Molina, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , 516-984-5755

TERMINAR CON EL ROBO DE SALARIOS AYUDARIA A TODA LA ECONOMIA

SE PUBLICO UN REPORTE ACERCA DE 10 FORMAS DE RECONSTRUIR LA CLASE MEDIA

WASHINGTON, DC – más de 20 de las organizaciones líderes de Estados Unidos sobre el trabajo y la economía publicaron hoy un plan con 10 maneras de reconstruir la clase media de Estados Unidos [ADD LINK]. Como ambos candidatos presidenciales están destacando los temas del empleo y la economía, el nuevo informe ofrece diez propuestas concretas para fortalecer la economía al largo plazo mediante la creación de buenos empleos y para hacer frente a la inseguridad económica que se ha diseminado a millones de familias de U.S. Las recomendaciones siguen varios estudios recientes que indican que la economía está dirigida hacia la desigualdad aún como trabajos de clase media llegan a ser cada vez más escasos.

El reporte indica que ponerle fin al robo de salarios es una de las politicas que son importantes, no solo para los jornaleros, pero tambien para la creacion de trabajos buenos para la clase media. “En esta economia, cada trabajador es un jornalero, y toda la economia sufre cuando un trabajador no se le paga por el trabajo que hizo.” dijo Romeo Sosa, Director Ejecutivo de VOZ Proyecto de Educacion de Derechos Laborales, de Portland, Oregon. “El robo de salarios es un problema que es demasiado común, y no solo para los jornaleros, pero en muchas industrias diferentes,” dijo Cariño Barragan, Organizadora en Derechos Laborales en Casa Latina de Seattle, Washington.

Las dos organizaciones han luchado con campañas fuertes para promover legislacion local y estatal en contra del robo de salarios por medio de hacer valer las leyes en contra de los contratistas estafadores. Casa Latina exitosamente logró que pasara en el 2011 la Ley De Robo de Salarios en Seattle, y en Oregon, Voz continua luchando para legislación estatal en contra del robo de salarios.

El informe, "10 Maneras Para Reconstruir la Clase Media Para los Trabajadores Estadounidenses: Hacer que el Trabajo Pague en el Siglo XXI," identifica los siguientes pasos para mejorar los empleos de hoy y de mañana:

1. HACER DE CADA TRABAJO UN BUEN TRABAJO. La mayoría de los empleos de alto crecimiento en América — trabajadores de ventas, ayudantes personales de salud en el hogar y preparadores de alimentos — pagan salarios muy bajos y ofrecen pocas posibilidades de promoción. Una propuesta del Departamento de Trabajo (Department of Labor) – sólo una de las soluciones para este problema--ampliaría las protecciones a 2,50 millones de trabajadores de salud en el hogar, que trabajan en una de las categorías de empleo con el crecimiento más rápido, pero están excluidos de las leyes de horas extra y salario mínimo.

2. AUMENTAR EL SALARIO MÍNIMO. La propuesta ley de salario mínimo justo (Fair Minimum Wage Act) restauraría el valor perdido del sueldo mínimo, lo relacionaría al índice de inflación y aumentaría el salario mínimo de los que trabajan con propinas – creciendo el ingreso para 28 millones de trabajadores estadounidenses, y impulsando gastos del consumidor y creación de empleo.

3. GUARDAR TRABAJOS BUENOS, PÚBLICOS Y PRIVADOS. El gobierno federal, y los gobiernos estatales y locales han reducido su mano de obra por 580.000 desde que terminó la recesión en el 2009. Y el sector privado ha enviado 1,20 millones de empleos al extranjero desde 2008. Deben proporcionarse fondos federales a los gobiernos estatales y locales para contratar maestros, bomberos y otros empleados públicos. Y el gobierno debe terminar las reducciones de impuestos para las empresas que mandan los empleos al extranjero.

4. ASEGURAR LA SALUD Y LA SEGURIDAD EN LA JUBILACIÓN. Se debe fortalecer la colaboración entre empleadores, trabajadores y el público por medio de aplicar la Ley de Reforma del Sistema de Salud (Affordable Care Act), proteger Medicare, Medicaid y Seguridad Social y establecer cuentas de jubilación nuevas para aquellos trabajadores que ahora dependen sólo en el Seguro Social.

5. RESPETAR LA LIBERTAD DE AFILIARSE A UN SINDICATO. Leyes obsoletas y las políticas corporativas han severamente debilitado la capacidad de los trabajadores de unirse libremente y negociar colectivamente. Estas tendencias han impulsado hacia abajo los salarios y beneficios. Se debe mejorar la Ley Nacional de Relaciones Laborales (National Labor Relations Act) para crear un proceso justo para los trabajadores a elegir la representación sindical y restaurar la libertad de negociación colectiva.

6. ASEGURAR QUE EL LUGAR DE TRABAJO MODERNO ES PRO-FAMILIA. Las reglas del lugar de trabajo no han seguido el ritmo de la transformación de la economía. Días de enfermedad pagados y asequible permiso para cuidar a familiares enfermos son indispensables para la salud de la fuerza laboral de hoy, para nuestras comunidades y para la economía. La propuesta de ley de familias saludables (Healthy Families Act) daría al 90% de los trabajadores del sector privado (en empresas de 15 o más) la posibilidad de ganar hasta siete días pagados por enfermedad cada año para lidiar con la enfermedad personal o familiar o buscar atención médica.

7. PARAR EL ROBO DE SALARIOS. Cuando les pagan a los trabajadores menos del salario mínimo, no pagan por las horas extras o no pagan nada del salario debido a los trabajadores, los empleadores sin escrúpulos están engañando a los trabajadores y arrastrando hacia abajo los salarios de los trabajadores de bajos salarios.

8. REQUERIR QUE EL JEFE RECONOZCA QUE ES SU EMPLEADOR. Cada vez más empresas están contratando trabajadores temporales permanentes, pagando a éstos y a los que trabajan tiempo parcial a una tasa menor, y dando menos o ningun beneficio, y designando a los empleados como “contratistas independientes.” El Departamento del Trabajo (DOL) y el Servicio de Impuestos (Internal Revenue Service) deben vigorosamente hacer cumplir las leyes para detener a los empleadores que maltraten sus empleados reales.

9. DAR A LOS DESEMPLEADOS SOLICITANTES DE EMPLEO UN NUEVO COMIENZO REAL. Se debe reautorizar el seguro de desempleo federal para el 2013 y aprobar el Acto de Oportunidad de Empleo Justo (Fair Employment Opportunity Act) para poner fin a las prácticas laborales que discriminan a los solicitantes de empleo desempleados.

10. FORTALECER LAS LEYES QUE PROTEGEN LA SALUD Y SEGURIDAD DEL TRABAJADOR. Millones de trabajadores son lesionados o enfermados en el trabajo cada año y miles mueren como resultado. Se debe promulgar la propuesta Protege a los Trabajadores Estadounidenses (Protect American Workers Act) y modernizar la ley de Salud y Seguridad Ocupacional (Occupational Safety and Health Act) para mejorar la seguridad en el trabajo y el cumplimiento.

Los grupos que publican el informe son 9to5, AFL-CIO, American Rights at Work, Blue-Green Alliance, Caring Across Generations, Center for Community Change, Change To Win, Families Values @ Work, Interfaith Workers Justice, Jobs with Justice, Los Angeles Alliance for the New Economy, National Day Laborer Organizing Network, National Partnership for Women & Families, National Employment Law Project, Partnership for Working Families, Progressive States Network, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, SEIU, USAction, Wider Opportunities for Women y Working America.

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Full report (PDF)
Appendices (PDF)

To view the full report PDF, click here
and to view the appendices, click here.

The role of workers’ rights and workplace protections in the economic recovery has been hotly debated in state legislatures since 2010. Conservative leaders argue that labor regulations are a strangulating force on economic growth, making it too costly for employers to invest in job creation. Labor advocates and progressives argue that hard economic times are the worst time to roll back these protections, and that they are crucial to economic growth and stability.

These debates have played out most visibly in fights over legislative proposals targeting the rights of government workers and unions. A central theme in conservatives’ cases is an assumption that trends in the private sector mirror free market economic “reality,” a world where institutions that empower workers simply and unsustainably distort costs: if private sector wages are falling, that’s just what the market will bear; if workers don’t have pensions, it’s because they’re too expensive and no longer relevant. Many conservatives argue, as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker articulated, that the public sector is “out of balance” and needs to be “brought back in line” with the private sector, where pensions, healthcare coverage, and union representation have been on the decline for decades.

By surveying the effectiveness of laws meant to protect workers against violations by unscrupulous employers in all 50 states, this report reveals a very different picture of the actual “imbalance” between private sector and public sector employment standards. Since the private sector workforce is virtually non-union and concentrated in lower-wage sectors, the conditions such working people face are increasingly the foundation on which the American standard of living rests. Laws to guarantee an employee’s right to be paid what she or he is legally owed form a bulwark against the type of mass exploitation we are mortified by in other countries, and which are only a couple of generations distant in our own nation’s history.

Our research shows that states’ wage theft laws are grossly inadequate, contributing to a rising trend in workplace violations that affects millions of people throughout the country. The growth of this and other forms of the “underground economy” also have a serious impact on state revenues, amounting to billions of dollars per year in tax and payroll fraud.

Several states are acting to address these problems by strengthening their laws against unscrupulous employers. Our recent report, Cracking Down on Wage Theft, highlights some of these states, most particularly New York, which passed a law in 2010 that greatly enhanced the ability of workers to recover nearly $3 billion per year stolen wages and for the state to recoup hundreds of millions in lost revenue — simply by enforcing the law. However, the improvements that states like Massachusetts, Illinois, and New Mexico have recently made come against a backdrop of virtual lawlessness. Our comprehensive survey of state laws across three categories essential to addressing the problem — Accessing Justice, Transparency and Accountability, and Securing Justice — reveals that 44 of the 50 states (plus Washington, DC) do not receive passing grades on combating the wage theft epidemic. Even the highest-ranked states — New York and Massachusetts — receive barely passing grades and have just begun to develop truly effective policies for cracking down on wage theft, while the vast majority of states have few, if any, protections at all.

Download the full report here.

Full report (PDF)
Appendices (PDF)

To view the full report PDF, click here
and to view the appendices, click here.

The role of workers’ rights and workplace protections in the economic recovery has been hotly debated in state legislatures since 2010. Conservative leaders argue that labor regulations are a strangulating force on economic growth, making it too costly for employers to invest in job creation. Labor advocates and progressives argue that hard economic times are the worst time to roll back these protections, and that they are crucial to economic growth and stability.

These debates have played out most visibly in fights over legislative proposals targeting the rights of government workers and unions. A central theme in conservatives’ cases is an assumption that trends in the private sector mirror free market economic “reality,” a world where institutions that empower workers simply and unsustainably distort costs: if private sector wages are falling, that’s just what the market will bear; if workers don’t have pensions, it’s because they’re too expensive and no longer relevant. Many conservatives argue, as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker articulated, that the public sector is “out of balance” and needs to be “brought back in line” with the private sector, where pensions, healthcare coverage, and union representation have been on the decline for decades.

By surveying the effectiveness of laws meant to protect workers against violations by unscrupulous employers in all 50 states, this report reveals a very different picture of the actual “imbalance” between private sector and public sector employment standards. Since the private sector workforce is virtually non-union and concentrated in lower-wage sectors, the conditions such working people face are increasingly the foundation on which the American standard of living rests. Laws to guarantee an employee’s right to be paid what she or he is legally owed form a bulwark against the type of mass exploitation we are mortified by in other countries, and which are only a couple of generations distant in our own nation’s history.

Our research shows that states’ wage theft laws are grossly inadequate, contributing to a rising trend in workplace violations that affects millions of people throughout the country. The growth of this and other forms of the “underground economy” also have a serious impact on state revenues, amounting to billions of dollars per year in tax and payroll fraud.

Several states are acting to address these problems by strengthening their laws against unscrupulous employers. Our recent report, Cracking Down on Wage Theft, highlights some of these states, most particularly New York, which passed a law in 2010 that greatly enhanced the ability of workers to recover nearly $3 billion per year stolen wages and for the state to recoup hundreds of millions in lost revenue — simply by enforcing the law. However, the improvements that states like Massachusetts, Illinois, and New Mexico have recently made come against a backdrop of virtual lawlessness. Our comprehensive survey of state laws across three categories essential to addressing the problem — Accessing Justice, Transparency and Accountability, and Securing Justice — reveals that 44 of the 50 states (plus Washington, DC) do not receive passing grades on combating the wage theft epidemic. Even the highest-ranked states — New York and Massachusetts — receive barely passing grades and have just begun to develop truly effective policies for cracking down on wage theft, while the vast majority of states have few, if any, protections at all.

Download the full report here.