Kent Wong is director of the UCLA Labor Center, where he teaches courses in labor studies and Asian American studies. He wrote this commentary at the invitation of the Los Angeles Times, which asked Angelenos what the next L.A. mayor should have at the top of his or her agenda. This was posted on April 14, 2013.Los Angeles' next mayor should make eliminating wage theft a top priority. Although there is a national push to raise the minimum wage, cities must enforce existing laws. Los Angeles has the highest levels of wage theft nationwide.
Unscrupulous employers violate the law by refusing to pay the minimum wage, disregarding overtime pay requirements and deliberately undercounting the hours workers are on the job. Recently, car wash workers filed a complaint for more than $500,000 in back wages owed to them by a single car wash owner in Los Angeles. This is not an isolated case. The UCLA Labor Center has found that every week in Los Angeles, low-wage workers lose more than $26 million in stolen wages. The problem is especially pervasive among immigrant workers and communities of color.
Wage theft hurts us all. When employers steal from workers, they steal from working-class communities — and the city's tax base. They make it tough for law-abiding employers to compete. Unions and worker centers are at the front lines, assisting labor agencies to target the worst offenders.
