Blogs

Judge Robert E. Gerber approved the settlement without delay and the workers' victory is secured!

"Wild Edibles Settles with Workers Group Pushing Boycott", New York Times- Rea

Retail workers are suing Sterling Jewelers, the nation's largest specialty retail jeweler.

A new coalition of labor and community organizations is fighting for equitable development in the Bronx.

Workers Picket Upper East Side Specialty Market

While it might be surprising to some that sweatshops still exist in the USA in 2009, low-income immigrant workers around the country are all too familiar with the grim reality of long hours, illegally low pay, and abuse from management.

In our last blog post, we had some bad news for tipped workers, as they were yet again left out of the federal minimum wage increase. For this blog post, the tune is a bit more upbeat.

While the federal minimum wage increased to $7.25 per hour last week, the minimum wage for tipped employees remains the same. Since 1991, the minimum hourly wage for tipped work has been just $2.13.

It is common practice for companies to misclassify employees in order to be exempt from paying overtime. Employers are required to pay time-and-a-half to employees who work over 40 hours per week.

Brandworkers campaigners were honored to stand with the Retail Action Project yesterday in its struggle for justice at Scoop NYC, a high-end clothing retailer. Scoop withheld hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime pay and discriminated against West African immigrant workers.

Diane Krauthamer of Next Left Notes reports:

"The workers, who hail primarily from West Africa, are filing suit with the U.S. Department of Justice for unlawful firings, document abuse and citizenship status discrimination. According to RAP, in October 2008 Scoop NYC initiated an internal I-9 audit of the immigrant workers’ papers. Seven of these workers presented authorization as soon as requested, but Scoop NYC fired them, alleging that they failed to produce proper documentation. These workers are asking for approximately $200,000 in lost wages since the time of their termination." (Read the full Next Left Notes article).

More press coverage from the rally:

NY1: Workers Accuse High End Retailer Of Shortchanging Wages

Crain's New York- The scoop at Scoop: unpaid overtime, workers say