Wage Theft in America: Why Millions of Working Americans Are Not Getting Paid¿And What We Can Do About It

by Kim Bobo

Overview

“This book will give you an entirely new perspective on work in America.” —Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed
 
In what has been described as “the crime wave no one talks about,” billions of dollars’ worth of wages are stolen from millions of workers in the United States every year—a grand theft that exceeds every other larceny category. Even the Economic Policy Foundation, a business-funded think tank, has estimated that companies annually steal an incredible $19 billion in unpaid overtime. The scope of these abuses is staggering, but activists, unions, and policymakers—along with everyday Americans in congregations and towns across the country—have begun to take notice.
 
While the first edition of Wage Theft In America documented the scope of the problem, this new edition adds the latest research on wage theft and tells what community, religious, and labor activists are now doing to address the crisis—from passing state and local wage-theft bills to establishing mayoral task forces and tapping agencies that help low-wage workers in spotting wage theft.
 
Citing hard-hitting statistics and heartbreaking first-person accounts of exploitation at the hands of employers, this updated edition of Wage Theft In America offers concrete solutions and a roadmap for putting an end to this insidious practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781595587176
Publisher:	New Press, The
Publication date:	09/13/2011
Edition description:	Revised Edition
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	650,977
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Kim Bobo is the founder and executive director of Interfaith Worker Justice and a columnist for Religion Dispatches. She is the author of Lives Matter: A Handbook for Christian Organizing and the co-author (with Jackie Kendall and Steve Max) of Organizing for Social Change, the most widely used manual on progressive activism in the country. She lives in Chicago.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction xi

Part I Wage Theft

1 The Crisis of Wage Theft 3

2 How Employers Steal Wages 23

3 Why Employers Steal Wages 42

4 How U.S. Labor Laws Fail Workers 55

Part II Vehicles for Stopping Wage Theft

5 Organizing to Stop Wage Theft: Why Unions Matter 73

6 Workers Centers: Front Lines against Wage Theft 88

Part III Strengthening the Department of Labor

7 The Department of Labor-More Important than Ever 107

8 Frances Perkins: More than a Building 133

9 Punishing Wage Theft and Rewarding Leaders 144

10 A New Vision for the Department of Labor 161

Part IV What You Can Do to Stop Wage Theft

11 Stopping Wage Theft Is Good for America 193

12 You Can Make a Difference 206

Appendices Additional Resources

Appendix A Department of Labor Wage and Hour Settlements 225

Appendix B Private Wage and Hour Lawsuits 259

Appendix C Catholic Labor Schools 266

Appendix D Workers Centers and Legal Clinics 270

Appendix E Faith Body Positions on Wages and Working Conditions 277

Appendix F National Organizations Fighting Wage Theft 287

Appendix G Congregational Study Guide for Wage Theft in America 294

Notes 301

Editorial Reviews

Argues perfectly for the importance of community allies in improving struggling workers' lives.
—Boston Review

In this fascinating yet disturbing (and ultimately optimistic) book [Bobo] provides the reader with nothing less than the anatomy of an invisible epidemic.
—the Black Commentator

From the Publisher