Misclassification of workers may sound like a clerical error. But in the construction industry, it can lead to wage theft, intimidation, and delayed treatment for workplace injuries.
Worker centers in general serve as a clearinghouse for workers’ needs when forming a union is all but impossible. Even in anti-union terrains, the centers have found ways to change public and corporate policies.
Labor organizers and researchers said they had not heard of Amazon previously coming to the table after worker pressure, even for private discussions. Last week, Amazon offered some compromises at its facilities in the Minneapolis area.
Interfaith Worker Justice founder Kim Bobo explains why progressives should be doing more to woo evangelicals; how the Chamber of Commerce is abandoning small businesses by not fighting wage theft; and why some Catholic employers are lobbying for workers to get paid overtime. [This interview first appeared at Public Research Associates and will be in the Winter 2015 issue of The Public Eye Magazine.]
The Workers Defense Project, founded in 2002, has emerged as one of the nation's most creative organizations for immigrant workers. Its focus is the Texas construction industry, which employs more than 600,000 workers. It is one of 225 worker centers nationwide, aiding immigrant workers. Workers Centers show what is possible, and may help infuse new life into the labor movement.
Spread the word