The Little Guy is Violated and the Economic Right Wing is Silent
Where is the economic right-wing outrage for this violation of the "little guy?" Low-wage workers are routinely denied proper overtime pay and are often paid less than the minimum wage, according to a new study based on a survey of workers in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. The study, the most comprehensive examination of wage-law violations in a decade, also found that 68 percent of the workers interviewed had experienced at least one pay-related violation in the previous work week…. The study found that 26 percent of the workers had been paid less than the minimum wage the week before being surveyed and that one in seven had worked off the clock the previous week. In addition, 76 percent of those who had worked overtime the week before were not paid their proper overtime, the researchers found. I'm trying to think of why our economic right-wing friends have been silent about these outrages. It could be because Just so we are clear regarding what we are talking about…we are talking about losing 15% of one's paycheck: In surveying 4,387 workers in various low-wage industries, including apparel manufacturing, child care and discount retailing, the researchers found that the typical worker had lost $51 the previous week through wage violations, out of average weekly earnings of $339. That translates into a 15 percent loss in pay. Why do I think that this would be cause for many economic right-wingers to rejoice? The researchers said one of the most surprising findings was how successful low-wage employers were in pressuring workers not to file for workers' compensation. Only 8 percent of those who suffered serious injuries on the job filed for compensation to pay for medical care and missed days at work stemming from those injuries…. In instances when workers' compensation should have been used, the study found, one third of workers injured on the job paid the bills for treatment out of their own pocket and 22 percent used their health insurance. Workers' compensation insurance paid medical expenses for only 6 percent of the injured workers surveyed, the researchers found. Are the economic right-wingers silent about this study and perhaps secretly rejoicing because they also despise worker compensation laws? Could they be thinking to themselves, "If a worker gets injured on the job, then that should only be cause to say 'tough luck'?" Ah, but these right wingers, they are sometimes inclined to invent excuses. Can't you hear them say, "Oh, this is something only a minuscule number of employers do." Think again: "The conventional wisdom has been that to the extent there were violations, it was confined to a few rogue employers or to especially disadvantaged workers, like undocumented immigrants," said Nik Theodore, an author of the study and a professor of urban planning and policy at the University of Illinois, Chicago. "What our study shows is that this is a widespread phenomenon across the low-wage labor market in the United States." According to the study, 39 percent of those surveyed were illegal immigrants, 31 percent legal immigrants and 30 percent native-born Americans. Of course, another excuse by the economic right-wingers could be "It's a recession for crying out loud. Of course these kinds of problems are going to arise during a bad recession." I must repeat. Think again: The new study, "Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers," was conducted in the first half of 2008, before the brunt of the recession hit. The next excuse? Just wait. It is no doubt coming. My guess: there is something wrong with the survey.
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