LOS ANGELES – On May 10th at 10 AM, workers, union leaders and advocates from the Los Angeles Coalition Against Wage Theft will gather on the steps of the City Attorney’s Office, 200 N. Main Street, to demand an ordinance to combat wage theft in the City of Los Angeles. KIWA is a member of the Coalition.
Los Angeles is the wage theft capitol of the country. Violations amount to $26 million per week, or $1.4 billion per year—more than twice that of New York City or Chicago. “Wage theft refers to any time you make less than your employer is legally required to pay you,” says Victor Narro, Project Director at the UCLA Downtown Labor Center and co-author of a recent report on the subject. “Prime examples include making less than minimum wage, less than time-and-a-half for overtime, or working off-the-clock or through meal and rest breaks.”
There are 750,000 low-wage workers in Los Angeles County. A staggering two-thirds experience wage violations in any given week, according to Wage Theft and Workplace Violations in Los Angeles. One-third made less than minimum wage; 80% were cheated of overtime. All told, the average worker lost over $2,600, or 15%, of their annual income. Violations appear in all 22 low-wage industries, particularly in garment, restaurant, domestic services, and residential construction.