By The PhillyPublic Record

– Wage theft in various forms strikes 400,000 Pennsylvanians every week, to the tune of as much as $30 million, a report commissioned by Community Legal Services found.

The report, directed by Temple Law Professor Jennifer Lee, is one of the first efforts to study methodically a problem that has stirred up many complaints but has received little attention by prosecutors.

The report was released at a roundtable discussion Monday which was attended by labor leaders including national AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, Philadelphia AFL-CIO Council President Pat Eiding and NUHHCE Local 1199C President Henry Nicholas, as well as workers in the restaurant industry who told stories of their own victimization.

Wage theft takes place in many forms: tip stealing, off-the-clock work and minimum-wage violations. It is prevalent in restaurants, carwashes, parking lots, home care, retail settings and security agencies.

Trumka called the report “very important. The breadth and depth of wage theft is astounding. It can make the difference between poverty and non-poverty.”

Unions can fight wage theft even when it does not affect their own members. Eiding cited Philadelphia AFL-CIO efforts to improve wages of airport workers.

Many remarked that employers who steal workers’ money, even when exposed, never go to jail for their crime.

“There was a widely publicized case in Philadelphia where a restaurant that was well connected was caught stealing employees’ earnings,” said Eiding, referring to Chickie’s & Pete’s. “You have to ask yourself why someone like this would do a thing like this. The answer is: Because they can.”

Source – http://www.phillyrecord.com/2015/07/wage-theft-is-widespread/