Wage Theft. Is It Really An Issue?

AFL-CIO writer James Parks interviewed Kim Bobo a labor union strategist who recently wrote” Wage Theft in America: Why Millions of Working Americans Are Not Getting Paid – And What We Can Do About It.”. I found her argument interesting and wished to share it. Bobo defines wage theft as any instance you don’t get paid for the work you do. This could be not being paid overtime pay when working extra hours or not being paid what you were supposed to be paid. Bobo suggests that the incident is wide spread and requires a massive labor movement to fix this growing problem. She urges for grassroots support in this process. Labor unions and worker centers already deal with many of the problems with wage theft. Bobo asked for community policing of wage theft, a more competence secretary of labor who is aware of wage theft and make the labor department more transparent and accountable, and fining employers for wage theft. When asked if she thought the new Obama administration would help end wage theft she said, I know this won’t be the top priority with the financial crisis and the need to rescue the auto industry. “But when you think about it, what better way is there to stimulate the economy than to make sure workers are paid? That’s going to go straight into our communities. It’s going to boost consumer spending. This is a very good way to invest in our communities.” I wonder if wage theft is truly a problem. It seemed to me she was making a small problem seem monumental. Although maybe she is correct in suggesting extra (deserved) money in the pockets of our labor force would boost consumer spending.