Protests outside City Hall over labor law violations

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.examiner.com/city-hall-in-los-angeles/protests-outside-city-hall-over-labor-law-violations

* November 21st, 2010 1:59 pm PT

On Thursday low-income employees and workers’ rights advocates gathered together in front of the Los Angeles City Hall to protest employees who face unfair labor practices. According to a 2009 report released by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles 654,000 low-wage workers get cheated over $26 million every week. UCLA’s Director of the Center for Labor Research and Education, Kent Wong believes,

“Businesses guilty of worker exploitation are not just hurting poor families. It means that they’re getting an unfair advantage over other businesses that are doing the right thing and are honoring labor laws and paying their workers a living wage.”

The study showed that low-wage workers, which consist of day laborers, janitors, and taxi drivers, lose more than 15% of their required income because of employer fraud. In these circumstances employers violate labor practice laws by paying employees below the minimum wage, as well as not paying for hours worked overtime.

Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon is advocating for a city ordinance that will allow employees to report labor law violations to the Los Angeles Police Department and to the Los Angeles City Attorney criminalizing unfair labor practices. The city ordinance is in the process of being drafted and is anticipated to be approved by early 2011.