I wish I could say that I was astonished to read of a study which found that wage laws are rampantly violated by employers who pay low wages. 60% of workers were paid less than the minimum wage. 76% of those workers who worked over 40 hours a week were not paid overtime. Two-thirds of those who worked long enough days to receive a meal break were denied the breaks. 45% had their pay docked illegally.
Here is the study, you should at least read the first few pages (the "executive summary").
But I am not surprised by any of this. The Bush Administration actively worked to neuter the Department of Labor, to the point that large employers, such as Wal-Mart, felt free to violate the rights of its workers. If a big company like that felt they could get away with it, the much smaller companies, which were far less likely to be investigated, had to feel they had free rein.
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3 comments:
Yup, and they loooooooove people who's first language is not English, unless, of course, their first language is not English.
I could tell you stories of what it's like to work in non-union auto repair shops. The Big Lie is you work from 8 to 4:30. Most mechanics put in 10 - 12 hours a day with no overtime.
I still remember the speech (ass kicking) Ted Kennedy gave when he was trying (under republican controlled senate) to get those fuc*ers to allow a raise in the minimum wage..I can still hear him screaming 15 years 15 years but you continue to raise Senate pay...
great reaction by Teddy (rip)
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