Catholic Charities In the News
Council holds hearing to protect day laborers
June 30, 2009 - WWL TV
By Michael Luke
A City Council committee is holding a hearing as they explore ways to punish contractors who fail to pay their workers, especially undocumented day laborers.
New laws are being proposed that would make it easier to go after contractors that don’t pay their workers.
“The issue of wage theft in New Orleans is one of the worst crimes that this city has seen, and it is now at the top of the list in terms of other cities across America,” said Council President Arnie Fielkow, who convened and chaired the hearing.
Dozens of workers, many who work as day labors, filled the Council Chambers testifying on the issue of wage theft.
“We’ve been working with several groups that are present on wage claim clinic,” said Martin Gutierrez of Catholic Charities. “And we see about 20 to 30 (workers a week) in combination with our partners who are dealing with this situation.”
One of the main issues is that many of the day labors are undocumented workers, and because of their status, some said, contractors refused to pay them and threatened to call police and immigration.
Loopholes in federal and state laws make it hard to prosecute wage theft cases, according to the Loyola Law Clinic.
In August, Fielkow hopes to propose a law that would criminalize wage theft at the local level.
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