FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 23, 2014
Contact: Stefanie Ritoper, sritoper@ucla.edu, 213-375-4841
Korean: Danny Park, danny@kiwa.org, 213-276-2680
LA City Council Introduces Resolution to Address Wage Theft
Business Owners, Workers, Community and Interfaith Leaders Call for its Passage.
Los Angeles City councilmembers Gilbert Cedillo and Paul Koretz will introduce a motion to draft a wage theft ordinance which would criminalize wage theft and increase penalties and fines on employers who unfairly cheat their employees out of pay. Workers, business owners, and community groups will share their experiences.
WHAT: Press conference, rally and short video screening supporting the wage theft ordinance in Los Angeles
WHEN: Tuesday, June 24 at 10:00AM PT
WHERE: City Hall (South side), Los Angeles, CA
200 N. Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA
WHO:
Councilmembers Gilbert Cedillo and Paul Koretz; Reverend Tom Carey of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE); Claudia Lopez, Business Owner – Mamita’s Delights;
Workers who have suffered wage theft; Representatives from Los Angeles Coalition against Wage Theft.
WHY: Los Angeles is the wage theft capital of the nation. Every week workers lose $26.2 million in wage theft violations, the highest of any other major city in the country. Yet, Los Angeles is behind the curve in legislation. Other major cities, including Houston, Chicago, and Seattle have passed city ordinances to hold unscrupulous employers accountable. Wage theft is an illegal practice of not paying workers for all of their work including; violating minimum wage laws, not paying overtime, forcing workers to work off the clock, and much more.
VISUALS: Diverse crowd of workers, business owners, interfaith leaders, and councilmembers with signs, banners in front of city hall
The Los Angeles Coalition Against Wage Theft unites low-wage workers across industry to stop wage theft. The Coalition includes 9to5, CARECEN, CHIRLA, CLEAN Carwash Campaign, Garment Worker Center, IDEPSCA, KIWA, Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund, National Day Laborer Organizing Network, Pilipino Workers Center, Restaurant Opportunities Center of L.A.,
UCLA Labor Center, UFCW 770, SEIU USWW and others. http://www.facebook.com/stopLAwagetheft
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