The Unitarian Universalist Fund for a Just Society has generously offered a matching grant that will benefit the Labor Justice Committee.  This means that the money from your ticket will be matched (up to the first $1,000 that we raise).

If you’re interested in buying a ticket, please email us at justicialaboralep@gmail.com or call the office at 915-532-3799 x 17!

The Coalition against Wage Theft includes:

Annunciation House
Asociación de Trabajadores Fronterizos
Border Network for Human Rights
Catholic Diocese of El Paso
El Paso Building and Construction Trades Council
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers LU 583
Labor Justice Committee
Laborers International Union of North America
Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project
Sheet Metal Workers Local 49

The Campaign’s supporters include:

Black El Paso Democrats
Border Agricultural Workers Project
Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Service
East Side Democrats
El Paso Grassroots
El Paso Stonewall Young Democrats
El Paso Young Democrats
Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Project
LionStar Blog

For pictures and our press release, see our facebook page!

Also, in case you missed it, here’s a roundup of the press coverage!

The City Takes its First Step against Wage Theft

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

One in every 8 El Paso workers has been the victim of wage theft, and one in every 5 workers is paid less than what the law says, which is why the City took its first step to control this epidemic that hits new victims every day.

Group Asks for Crackdown on El Paso Wage Theft

By ABC-7 Reporter Daniel Marin
Posted 1:25 pm MST November 29, 2011
Updated 10:41 am MST November 30, 2011

EL PASO, Texas – El Paso City Council signed off on a resolution against wage theft in the Sun City.

Low-income workers and their advocates brought signs with them to Tuesday’s City Council meeting. One woman told city representatives how she worked as a live-in housekeeper, earning less than minimum wage.

Advocates said while some may be quick to assume that most workers who find themselves the victims of wage theft are most likely in the country illegally, that’s not always the case.

Committee members Martin and Amalia with Paso del Norte staff member Tom Power. In the background are Shalini Thomas, member of the Labor Justice Committee, Greg Baltz, Annunciation House volunteer, and Gerardo Hernandez, member of the Labor Justice Committee (Courtesy of KVIA)

Marco Raposo of the Peace and Justice Ministry told ABC-7 that even if a worker is undocumented, it shouldn’t matter when it comes to his or her compensation.

“The law basically says if you work, then you need to be paid,” he said.

Raposo added that wage theft also hurts the city as a whole when employers fail to pay their fair share through “under the table” deals.

The advocates at Tuesday’s meeting hoped the city would be able to draft a local ordinance creating penalties against wage theft.

City Rep. Steve Ortega said while he supports the resolution, he isn’t quite ready to commit to an ordinance.

Ortega said he feels the state would be better equipped to handle a wage theft law.

Council members voted to send the idea of an ordinance to the city attorney’s office and the Governmental Affairs legislative review committee for further study.

Groups Ask for Local Solutions to Wage Theft

(For the original article in Spanish,  click here.)

Karla Guevara
El Diario de El Paso | 29-11-2011 | 23:57

One of every eight El Paso workers has been a victim of wage theft and one of every five workers was paid below minimum wage. For this reason, the City took the first step to control this epidemic that takes new victims every day.

The municipality considered a resolution that recognizes this problem and permits the City to explore local solutions, such as creating an ordinance that threatens abusive employers or that supports change in the state law to pursue the crime. The resolution was approved by unanimous vote. Susie Byrd and Michel Noe were the principal supports of the initiative.

“I don’t wish this on anyone. Employers think that they are doing you a favor and they forget that people work for necessity,” said Aracely Primero, a member of the Labor Justice Committee and who was a victim of wage theft who worked as a domestic worker on the West Side.

“I felt like I was in jail. I worked from six in the morning until ten at night without the ability to leave and at times I had to stay the night. For this reason, I decided to leave and when I asked for my final paycheck, my employer threatened to accuse me of robbery to the police,” she added.

Aracely calculates that the employer owes her some $9,000 for seven months of exploitation and even though she lost the hope of recovering that money, she hopes that her testimony will help others to defend themselves.

Chris Benoit, attorney for Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project and the Coalition Against Wage Theft, composed of several organizations, affirmed that Aracely’s situation occurs frequently and requires local measures. Even though there is a state law criminalizing the practice, the process is slow.

“People don’t have money to pay an attorney and the attorneys aren’t going to take many of these cases because there is not much money at stake. For this reason, we need local measures. For example, the City should not provide permits to businesses that violate these laws,” he said.

Currently, if an employee files a police report with the Police Department or Sheriff, the District Attorney can take the case and the employers can receive penalties including fines and even jail time.

Lidia Cruz, who works for the Coalition to help victims of these cases, affirmed that it is vital that workers document their hours and how much is owed and, if possible, that they find witnesses that can corroborate that they were working on the job.

“We won’t ask them whether they are documented. It doesn’t matter if they are undocumented, if a worker labors in Texas, they should be paid the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. If they are paid less than that, they are being robbed,” she added.

Indeed, the most vulnerable class of workers are domestic workers, but now wage theft is found in all industries including among older adults that are documented or citizens. But, Ms. Cruz added, the fear and ignorance keep victims from filing complaints.

Representative Dr. Michiel Noe said that wage theft, “does not only take away the dignity of workers, but also creates unfair competition with businesses that do follow the law.”

Noe hopes that in six months, the municipality has a clear idea of how to protect workers. The municipality will need to analyze to ensure that an ordinance is just for all and isn’t in conflict with state and federal law.

If you are a victim of wage theft, feel free to call Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project at (915) 532-3799.

Several members of the Coalition met with City Council members last week and received verbal support from several members. Rep. Susie Byrd will be presenting a resolution to the Council on Nov. 29 recognizing wage theft as a problem and committing the City to create local remedies to resolve the problem and we will speak during the public comment period of that resolution.

We are requesting your presence during the City Council meeting to show the City Council just how much the El Paso community is in favor of this ordinance!

What: Presentation of Petitions and Open Letters in support of the ordinance against wage theft

Date: Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Time: 9:00 am

Where: City Council Meeting (2 Civic Center Plaza)

District Attorney Jaime Esparza, State Senator Jose Rodriguez, and Labor Justice Committee member Gerardo Hernanez

Committee member Lidia Cruz, speaking to the press, surrounded by County Attorney Jo Ann Bernal, State Senator Jose Rodriguez, and Border Network for Human Rights organizer Claudia Diaz

But our work isn’t over.  As you’ve seen on our site, we’re ALSO pushing for the El Paso City Council to pass a local ordinance against wage theft.  In our conversations with law enforcement and the District Attorney’s offices, we have come to realize criminal prosecution will only occur in the most egregious wage theft cases, which means the majority of cases will not be considered appropriate for criminal prosecution.  If we don’t push the City of El Paso to pass a civil ordinance against wage theft, many workers will still have no where to turn to recover their unpaid wages and this epidemic will continue.

Coalition against Wage Theft! John Ruiz, with the Building and Union Trades, Committee member Mary, Paso del Norte law clerk Stephanie Gharakhanian, and Annunciation House volunteer Greg Baltz

We ask you to continue signing the petitions so that we can show the El Paso City Council just how much of the El Paso community is demanding change!

For a roundup of the press regarding today’s exciting announcement

New law will ease prosecution of employers who cheat workers out of wages

By Adriana M. Chávez/ El Paso Times
Posted 11/17/2011 12:00:00 AM MST

A new state law will make it easier for authorities to prosecute employers who cheat workers out of wages.

State Sen. José Rodríguez, D-El Paso, authored Senate Bill 1024, which took effect on Sept. 1. The law prohibits theft of wages.

State Sen. Jose Rodriguez, D-El Paso, along with El Paso District Attorney Jaime Esparza, El Paso county Attorney Jo Anne Bernal, Police Chief Greg Allen, Sheriff Richard Wiles and members of Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project and the Labor Justice Committee hosted a news conference Wednesday morning to announce a new law that targets employer wage theft. (Ruben R Ramirez / El Paso Times)

Rodríguez, along with El Paso District Attorney Jaime Esparza, El Paso County Attorney Jo Anne Bernal, police Chief Greg Allen, Sheriff Richard Wiles and members of the Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project and the Labor Justice Committee hosted a news conference Wednesday to announce the initiative.

Rodríguez said the collaborative effort will protect workers from “unscrupulous” employers who shortchange workers out of their hard-earned wages.

Esparza said that in the past, such cases were difficult to prosecute. That should change under the new law.

“It’s an important initiative for us. These cases are actually more complicated than people think,” Esparza said.

Wage theft between $20 and $500 is considered a Class B misdemeanor punishable by a jail term of at least 180 days and a maximum fine of $2,000, while wage theft between $500 and $1,500 is considered a Class A misdemeanor punishable by at least a year in jail and a maximum $4,000 fine.

Wage theft between $1,500 and $20,000 is considered a felony punishable by a state jail term between 180 days and a year, and a maximum $10,000 fine.

Rodríguez said that according to a study by the Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project, the Border Network for Human Rights and the Labor JusticeCommittee, one in every five low-wage workers didn’t receive minimum wage, and one in every eight workers was a victim of wage theft.

Both Wiles and Allen pledged to have investigators look into wage theft cases.

“From a law enforcement perspective, I’m hoping that the message gets out (to employers) to not even do it,” Wiles said. “We stand committed to taking the appropriate action.”

During the news conference, Lidia Cruz, a member of the committee, presented Wiles with two wage theft cases to investigate.

The idea for the bill came after at least two years of discussions between civil rights officials, labor committee members and Esparza and Rodríguez. Gerardo Hernandez, a member of the Labor Justice Committee, said members meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 602 S. Oregon, to discuss wage theft complaints and determine which cases they will provide assistance in.

“We’ve seen the abuse and retaliation from employers against those who are fighting for their rights,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez said workers who complain about wage theft are mostly Hispanics, and the majority of them are Mexican.

 

Officials Vow to Enforce Wage Theft Law

By ABC-7 Reporter Celina Avila
POSTED: 5:16 pm MST November 16, 2011
UPDATED: 5:49 pm MST November 16, 2011

EL PASO, Texas – A new law goes after those who don’t pay their employees fairly went into effect in May, and local law enforcement say employers will face consequences if they don’t comply.

The wage theft law was authored by El Paso state Sen. Jose Rodriguez.

“I didn’t have money to pay for an attorney,” said Lidia Cruz, who said her employer refused to pay her two years ago.

Cruz represents a startling statistic in our community: one in eight workers is a victim of wage theft.

“They’re scared. They don’t know their rights,” said Cruz, who is now with the Labor Justice Committee.

“We’re talking about day laborers. We’re talking about individuals who work in the construction industry, in the landscaping industry and other sectors in our economy,” Rodriguez said.

The new state law makes it easier to prosecute these usually difficult cases.

“We now have the tool from a law enforcement perspective to look at each and every one of these cases,” said Sheriff Richard Wiles.

Cruz said she’s now working to recuperate nearly $1 million in unpaid wages to El Paso workers.

“They count with those $20 to $30 a day,” Ruiz said.

“Maybe those victims are vulnerable, but just because they’re vulnerable, state law does not permit you to take advantage of them and we will pursue those cases,” District Attorney Jaime Esparza said.

Breaking the law can range from a Class B misdemeanor to a state jail felony.

For more information on how to protect yourself, call the Labor Justice Committee at 915-532-3799.

Wage Theft is a Crime

By STAFF
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 – 4:41 pm

EL PASO – When you work, you expect to be paid, but what happens when you aren’t? It’s a problem we see to many times here in El Paso, but now there’s a solution.

A new law is standing up for people who work hard for their money, and often time end up stiffed by their employers.

“Every week we see dozens of cases coming into our office,” Christopher Benoit said.

Unpaid workers turn to Benoit and the Paso Del Norte Civil Rights Project for help. He says the problem is so bad there are “close to a million dollars in unpaid wages, in under two years.” That’s in the Borderland alone, and it’s probably because we have some vulnerable workers.

“Whether a person here is documented or undocumented, it is still a crime to not pay that person appropriate wages they are entitled to under the law,” County Attorney JoAnn Bernal said.

She says the new law makes it easier to prosecute wage theft as a crime, and today local law enforcers made it clear; they will work together to investigate and prosecute wage theft cases in El Paso County.

“To those people who think that they can get work out of people and not pay them, we stand together and are committed to take appropriate action,” El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles said, shortly before he was handed a folder with his first two cases.

We are writing today to ask your assistance.  As we have mentioned again and again, wage theft in El Paso is an epidemic, but our government is failing us.  Very few government organizations exist that can help workers recover unpaid wages and the few that do exist either don’t respond to complaints or don’t have the resources to resolve complaints in a timely fashion.

The Coalition against Wage Theft, a coalition of local organizations, was recently formed to demand that the City of El Paso pass an ordinance against wage theft.  This Coalition includes the Labor Justice Committee, Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project, Border Network for Human Rights, the Diocese of El Paso, El Paso Building and Construction Trades Council, and Annunciation House, just to include a few.

Cities across the country are passing similar ordinances and it can be done in El Paso too.  But we need your support.  As we continue trying to convince our City Council members that the acts of unscrupulous employers are not welcome in our community, we are asking you to sign the Coalition against Wage Theft’s petitions (in English and Spanish).

We will be delivering these petitions to the City Council in mid-November.  With your signature, we can show the City Council that it’s not just the Labor Justice Committee or the Coalition against Wage Theft that’s fighting against wage theft, but rather that the El Paso community as a whole is demanding that the city take action against this crime wave.

If you’d like printer friendly versions of these petitions, you can find them here: (English and Spanish).

If your organization would like to sign on, please do not hesitate to let us know at justicialaboralep@gmail.com.

As always,  if you are interested in being an active part of these efforts, please let us know!  Over the next several months, we will be meeting with El Paso’s elected officials.  They need to hear how wage theft and lack of enforcement affects your organization and the people with whom you work.

Finally, keep watching this space for an exciting announcement regarding this year’s National Day of Action Against Wage Theft!

In national news, the Labor Justice Committee signed on to a letter to Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis asking her and the Department of Labor to limit the reach of the “companionship exemption” to the Fair Labor Standards Act.  Many Committee members work as home care aides.  These members often work shifts that are 72 hours or longer, usually by themselves.  However, as currently written, federal regulation excludes home care aids from minimum wage and overtime protections.  This can be ended at any time by Secretary Solis.  Members of our community who are caring for our parents and grandparents deserve fair compensation for their tireless efforts!  To learn more, click here.

On a statewide level, the Texas legislature passed a law making it easier for wage theft to be prosecuted criminally!  A big thank you to co-sponsor and local state senator Jose Rodriguez!

Texas law tougher on cheating employers

by Vic Kolenc\ El Paso Times
Posted: 06/15/2011 12:00:00 AM MDT

 A revised state law, recently signed by Gov. Rick Perry, is aimed at cracking down on employers who don’t pay their employees.

(For the original article in Spanish,  click here.)

Lorena Figuero
El Diario de El Paso | 15-06-2011 | 01:21

Employers in El Paso who abuse their workers by committing wage “theft” will no longer find it easy to do.

And it’s because of a new state law that will make it easier to arrest and prosecute this type of employer, who could be punished with jail time and economic sanctions.

Bill SB 1024, signed in to law at the end of May, gives victims legal tools to recover their wages and closes a legal vacuum in the penal code that allows abusive employers to avoid criminal charges.  The legislation will go in to effect on September 1.

“The district attorneys and officials that enforce Texas law can send a strong message to employers that swindle their workers,” said Chris Benoit yesterday, labor attorney at Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project.

They and other local civil rights organizations have said that low-wage workers, especially Latinos that work in construction or as domestic workers have become the primary victims of employers in El Paso who, on top of not offering health insurance or other benefits, “rob” their wages.

The “theft” happens when employers pay less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, don’t pay in full, or at all.

The organizations have also mentioned that abused workers are threatened by their employers when they try to recover the wages they are owed.

SB 1024, sponsored by Senator Jose Rodriguez in collaboration with representative Eddie Rodriguez, with his bill HB 2196, will put a halt to this situation by reforming the theft of services statute as it currently exists in the Texas penal code, said Benoit.

He explained that this statute has been difficult to apply to cases of wage “theft” especially when the victims don’t have proof of the hours they worked.  This situation is seen most by day laborers, who are contracted on a temporary basis and without a contract.

He added that the legal vacuum that currently exists in the law has allowed abusive employers to protect themselves from sanctions by paying their victims just a fraction of what they are owed.

Benoit indicated that the new legislation broadens the theft of services statute to allow for criminal charges against employers who don’t pay all of the wages they owe to their workers, allowing for jail time and economic fines as a way to obligate employers to settle what they owe.

Members of the Labor Justice Committee, a community organization that works with victims of wage theft, applauded the new legislation.

One member of the Committee, Landy Mendoza, said that she was a victim of wage “theft” in 2010.  Even though she reported what had happened, the authorities told her they couldn’t do anything since her employer had paid her, although not in full, during the first weeks she worked.

With the new law, Mendoza could recover the rest of what she’s owed from her employer.

Other workers could do so as well; workers who are in the same situation and who have reported this type of abuse to organizations, like the Civil Rights Project, who has handled many similar cases and recovered over $100,000 in “stolen” wages over the last few years.

This year the civil organization filed a case on behalf of over twenty people who worked at a pallet factory who are trying to recover their wages and economic compensation for working overtime, mentioned Benoit, who said that reports of “wage theft” have increased over the last few years.

He said that domestic workers as well as construction workers are the ones who have been the most abused.

Benoit added that his organization as well as Border Network for Human Rights and UTEP will publish a report to expose the rate of wage “theft” and other injustices that happen to low-wage workers on the border.

He added that the report, based on about 300 surveys, will be ready next week.

Its results and recommendations will be given to the city and the county of El Paso to push authorities to legislate and improve labor conditions for workers, he added.

Finally, on a local level, El Diario covered one of our protests, held in support of a Committee member who is owed over $3000 in unpaid wages!

Group demands labor justice for a woman

(For the original article in Spanish,  click here.)

José Santos
El Diario | 21-06-2011 | 20:41

El Paso – Dozens of people congregated to fight for labor justice.  This took place this afternoon in the 300 block of Glenwood Street.

Mario Ruiz/El Diario de El Paso

Shalini Thomas, of the Labor Justice Committee, told us the reason for the protest.  “We are holding this protest to defend the rights of one of our members who worked more than 8 hours a day,” said Thomas, “whose employer still owes her money.”

Sandra Luz Reina worked from 12 – 14 hours a day and was paid $50.  “I worked from 2 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon,” said Reina, “first she paid me $40 a day, then she raised my wage to $50 but that was when she asked me to do everything.”

Reina was in charge of making food for the business owned by the person who hired her.

The Labor Justice Committee focuses on protecting the rights of workers to ensure just pay and protect against labor abuses.  “I am here to fight for my rights,” said Reina.

Reina is about to lose her house as she owes $700 and needed to pay the debt by this afternoon or she would be evicted.

According to the Committee’s calculations, Reina is owed about $4,800 in for working overtime and for the days that the employer owes her for the work she completed.

Read on for media coverage of the panel discussion regarding the report, and keep watching this space as we push local lawmakers to make enforcement against wage theft a possibility for El Paso workers!

Wage-theft review: Advocacy groups push for fairness in worker pay

by Aaron Bracamontes\ El Paso Times
Posted: 06/24/2011 12:00:00 AM MDT

One of every five low-wage workers in El Paso makes less than minimum wage, while close to 80 percent earn less than $10 an hour, according to a first-of-its-kind study released on Thursday.

“El Paso’s Newest Crime Wave: A Wage Theft Epidemic in the Borderlands” was released Thursday at the Border Network for Human Rights Center by the three nonprofit groups that commissioned it.

“The numbers show that wage theft is very prevalent,” said Maria Cristina Morales, a professor from Texas A&M University, who conducted the groundbreaking study with Eric Murillo, founder and co-organizer of the Retail Workers Rights Committee. “It was not something we had to work very hard to find.”

Volunteers from the three advocacy groups surveyed more than 250 low-income workers on streets, at bus stops and in community meetings.

A low-income worker is an employee who makes less than the “livable wage.” In El Paso, the “livable wage” is $7.26 an hour for a single person and $15.26 for an adult with a single child.

“As the number of dependents goes up, the livable wage gets higher,” said Morales.

Maria Christina Morales, author of the El Paso wage-theft study, presents her findings Thursday at the Border Network for Human Rights Center office, 2115 Piedras St. The study found that one out of every five low-wage workers in El Paso makes less than minimum wage and that close to 80 percent earn less than $10 an hour. (Vanessa Monsisvais / El Paso Times)

She presented the study results during a joint news conference hosted by the Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project, the Labor Justice Committee and the Border Network for Human Rights.

The study also found that nearly two-thirds of low-wage workers do not receive overtime pay.

“A lot of times, these workers don’t even know what overtime pay is,” Morales said.

The three groups said that low-income workers are vulnerable to wage theft; that’s when employers withhold payments.

Some cases of wage theft occur when employees are misrepresented as independent contractors, which denies them certain rights and benefits.

“This idea of not paying the workers who work overtime is more common than you think,” Border Network member Fernando Garcia said. “Hopefully, somebody will listen and things will start to change.”

Miguel Miranda, a member of the Border Network for Human Rights, said he could recall one man’s tragic but common story.

“He was hired to put up lights and decorations around a house,” Miranda said. “At the end, the owner said, ‘I don’t like the way it looks — I’m not paying you.’ That abuse is constant, and our people are suffering.”

The study was done to bring awareness about wage theft in El Paso.

The local human-rights groups want something done locally, said Christopher Benoit, a lawyer for the Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project.

“Change is slow in Washington and Austin, but we can make a change here with local ordinances,” Benoit said.

State legislators have already taken action on the problem.

The Wage Theft Bill, which was recently signed by Gov. Rick Perry, makes it easier for police to arrest and for prosecutors to charge employers who cheat workers out of their pay.

The wage theft study proposes language that can be used in any local ordinance.

“We provide a criminal and civil option, depending on what lawmakers want to do,” Benoit said. “We can use code compliance officers to deal with complaints.”

The study suggests that any penalties should be harsh enough to discourage employers from withholding wages.

Over the next few months, the advocacy groups will try to meet with local lawmakers to try to get an ordinance passed, Benoit said.

The results of the survey will help make the groups’ case, he said.

“At this point, we have only had some conversations with lawmakers, but nothing major,” Benoit said. “The main thing was that local leaders have said to bring them some numbers, bring the smoking gun.”

Of the individuals surveyed for the study, the workers who were paid the lowest were in the agriculture and domestic labor industries.

Every agriculture worker surveyed was paid below minimum wage, as were 43 percent of domestic workers.

Even the legal minimum wage, set at $7.25, is usually not enough money.

“We have large families here on the border,” Morales said. “The average family has more than one child.”

A low-wage worker may be afraid to speak against an unscrupulous employer for fear of retaliation, said Lidia Cruz, a member of the Labor Justice Committee who was a victim herself.

“A lot of us who have suffered are heads of households,” Cruz said. “There is a lot of pressure to keep a job to support our families.”

Cruz filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor in 2009 to recover thousands of dollars in unpaid wages from a former employer. But the statute of limitations lasts three years, so every day she had to wait for an investigator, she lost a day’s worth of pay she could recover. She eventually gave up her claim.

Within the next few months, the groups plans to present the study to the El Paso City Council and the County Commissioners Court, Benoit said.

It may take some time, but the advocacy groups are determined to make a difference, at least on a local level.

“This report was done by our three organizations,” Benoit said. “But it is going to take cooperation from more organizations to make a change. We are talking human-rights groups, church leaders and lawmakers.”

They denounce more wage theft

(For the original article in Spanish,  click here.)

Luis Chaparro
El Diario de El Paso | 23-06-2011 | 23:30

Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project, along with Border Network for Human Rights and the Labor Justice Committee, revealed yesterday that they have found employers who abuse workers by stealing parts of their salaries.

Chris Benoit, from Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project, said that they found cases of salaried workers who aren’t paid overtime and whose regular wages aren’t paid in full.

“This happens because the state of Texas doesn’t have a state or local law that protects workers,” he said.

“In addition, the organization that should be in charge of these cases, the Texas Workforce Commission, is in Austin and completes its investigations via telephone, which is why, obviously, they aren’t successful,” explained Benoit.

Miguel Miranda, with Border Network for Human Rights, said that this is a crime that has been rising in the city over the last few years, and urged authorities and society to stop this “criminal” practice.

“There are stories like that of a man who came to us saying that after he had completely decorated a home, the client simply decided not to pay him because he didn’t like the work.  And his employer didn’t pay him for his work either.  This is an abuse,” he declared.

A study completed by the organizations showed that in 100% of the abuses committed, 93% were against people of Latino origin.  In addition, the statistics revealed that the most abuses are committed against domestic workers and construction workers: “women and people who are undocumented.”

The document, which collected testimony from 223 people in public spaces during June of 2010 to August of 2011, revealed that approximately 40% of workers here earn minimum wage or less.

It also showed that two-thirds of workers who receive minimum wage work more than 40 hours a week and don’t receive overtime compensation “as the law requires.”

Lidia Cruz, from the Labor Justice Committee, said that her organization is demanding that authorities punish those who commit these “criminal” practices.

In 2010, two domestic workers from Ciudad Juarez sued their respective employers in El Paso County Court because they had been receiving wages less than US federal minimum wage.

Please join us as we present a groundbreaking report on the wage-theft epidemic running rampant in El Paso.  Representatives from Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project, Border Network for Human Rights, the Labor Justice Committee, and supporting academic scholars will present the findings of El Paso’s first-ever Wage Theft Report.   This report provides a statistical demonstration of the epidemic of wage and hour violations occurring in the El Paso region and the failure of existing institutions to address these violations.

When: Thursday, June 23rd, 1:30 PM

Where: Border Network for Human Rights
2115 N. Piedras
El Paso, TX 79930

Who: The Labor Justice Committee, Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project, Border Network for Human Rights, you!

Over twenty people protested in front of Good Coffee Mexican Restaurant, located at 1730 Montana Avenue, demanding payment of unpaid overtime compensation for workers of the restaurant.  The Labor Justice Committee and Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR) rallied behind a former employee who is attempting to recover thousands of dollars in unpaid wages for several years of work.

In connection with the rally, Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project filed a lawsuit on behalf of Teresa Avila, a former employee of the restaurant, demanding thousands of dollars in unpaid overtime pay and damages for retaliatory actions taken by the employer to silence Ms. Avila.  Dominguez & Coyle, PLLC is also representing the Plaintiff.

“I worked for Good Coffee for several years and often worked over forty hours per week.  My employer never paid me my overtime wages and even failed to pay me at all in the last week of my employment,” said Ms. Avila. “When I tried to recover my wages, my employer automatically threatened to sue me for defamation unless I backed down.  But I’m not going to back down.  He owes me these wages and we will recover them.”

Restaurant employees must receive at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour and overtime pay for all hours worked over 40 hours per week.  Overtime pay is time and a half of the promised hourly rate.

“We want all workers to be paid the legal wage.  But we also wholeheartedly denounce the efforts of employers to silence workers who are only trying to recover their just wage,” said Abelardo Lopez, First Representative of the Labor Justice Committee, as he held up a sign that read “We Support Workers’ Rights to Overtime.”

Members of the Labor Justice Committee, Border Network for Human Rights, and Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project, after the protest

(For the original article in Spanish,  click here.)

Community Protests Workers Unpaid Wages

Staff
El Diario de El Paso | 13-05-2011 | 00:00

Over twenty people held a protest outside “Good Coffee Mexican Restaurant,” located at Montana and Williams in Central El Paso, to protest unpaid overtime wages owed to an employee that worked for the company for three years. Supported by the Labor Justice Committee, Teresa Ávila demanded that the owners pay her unpaid overtime wages for the hours she worked as a cook. 

“I am here to exercise my rights as a worker. I worked for this man for three years. He didn’t pay me time and a half for the overtime hours I worked. I want my stolen salary,” said the ex-employee of the restaurant, while carrying a sign that said, “Work Completed, Work Paid.”

Foto:Juan Torres/El Diario de El Paso, Obreros en protesta

The victim, who is 52 years old and a mother of two children, said that she had attempted to negotiate wages with her ex-employer to reach an agreement, but she only received threats. For this reason, she decided to ask for help in demanding her labor rights.

Shalini Thomas, representative of the Labor Justice Committee, explained that the protest in support of Ávila was organized to pressure the owners to comply with the law. A lawsuit was also filed on behalf of Ms. Ávila by Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project.

(For the original article in Spanish,  click here.)

Good Coffee Owner Denies Labor Abuse

Jaime Torres Valadez
El Diario de El Paso | 13-05-2011 | 23:29

Arnoldo Palacios, owner of the restaurant “Good Coffee Mexican Restaurant”, denied an accusation from one of his ex-workers that he didn’t pay her on time during the two years she worked there.

Palacios said that a case has already been filed against his ex-employee Teresa Ávila for defamation.

Foto:Juan Torres/El Diario de El Paso, Obreros en protesta

“In the 15 years I have operated this business I’ve never had a labor dispute. You can ask my staff and they will answer that there is good treatment, fair wages, and payments on time.”

Ávila protested last Thursday in front of the restaurant, accompanied by a group of about 20 people, to demand the wages that she was owed.

Arnoldo Palacios said that he believes in demonstrating for ideas and thoughts when an injustice happens, but said that in this case, there was no injustice.  He admitted that Ávila was a good worker, but said that he always paid her, so he didn’t know why her attitude had changed.

Rosa Chavez and Rosa Chavez, below the agreements and responsibilities that governed our day

The day included a review of wage and hour law, a discussion about the different steps we can take to recover unpaid wages and the advantages and disadvantages of each one, an opportunity to practice advocating on behalf of someone else, a presentation on how to respond to immigration and police, and a role-playing game where members were given a sample wage-theft case and were asked to create and carry out a strategy to recover the wages.

Role playing! "Workers" Ruben and Eric, talking to "employer" Lidia Cruz

The day ended with a discussion on what it means to organize, and how we can continue growing and getting stronger.  Thanks to Committee member Rosa Chavez and her family, we also ate delicious breakfast burritos and enchiladas!

A big thanks to our facilitators Gabriela Barraza, Rosa Chavez, Lidia Cruz, Aurelio Rangel, Shalini Thomas, and Josefina Torres, and Chris Benoit and Alyssa Telander with Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project for making the day a big success!

Facilitators Aurelio Rangel, Lidia Cruz, Josefina Torres, and Rosa Chavez