Category Archives: Labor Enforcement

US Government: Stop the Genocidal War against the Palestinians, and Stop Abusing Women of Color Internally by Abolishing the 24-hour Workday

The US government supports the Israeli government in continuing to harm the Palestinian people, which has aroused worldwide indignation and sympathy for the Palestinian people.

In order to obtain maximum oil benefits in the Middle East, the US government supports the Israeli government as its vicious dog, constantly barking and creating conflicts, maintaining a “no war, no peace” situation, so that the US can exert influence. Historically, with the support of the US government, the Israeli government has continued to divide and occupy Palestinian land. It has treated Palestinians as worthless, forcing them to live in crowded and narrow areas such as the Gaza Strip, imposing an economic blockade on them, and separating them with walls. Palestine is therefore known as “the largest open-air prison in the world”!

How can the Palestinians not resist when they live in fear and oppression every day? Without the backing of the US government, how would the Israeli government dare to ignore the opposition from around the world and insist on bombing and invading the Gaza Strip? Even for the most basic United Nations resolution for a ceasefire, the US government disregarded other countries and exercised its veto power to stop it. In addition to the rising number of casualties every day, the two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are facing large-scale displacement as they are cut off from electricity and water: in just ten days after the Israeli government “declared war”, more than 60% Palestinians were forced to move! If they did not flee, they would be killed. Through this genocidal war, the US government is creating another migrant crisis, attracting condemnation from people at home and abroad, including Jews. We call on everyone to oppose this war and ask President Biden to stop the war immediately!

To start and maintain wars abroad, the US government has relied on exploiting and oppressing people internally. With the support of the government, insurance companies and home care agencies are forcing women of color home attendants to work inhumane 24-hour workdays, destroying their health and families day in and day out, and only pay them 13 hours a day. There is no such anti-human work arrangement anywhere else in the world! As the Speaker of the City Council, Adrienne Adams has been refusing to put the “No More 24 Act” to a vote to stop this crime against humanity and allow unscrupulous bosses to continue to harm us. It is unreasonable for the government to help these unscrupulous bosses suck our blood and sweat while also using our money to support the war!

In New York City, we must unite with all groups and individuals who support justice and oppose war and oppression, to stop the US government’s oppression against people internally, such as the racist violence against women of color, and to collectively improve our working and living conditions. Demand City Council Speaker Adams: Put the “No More 24 Act” to a vote and abolish the 24-hour workday, otherwise step down immediately!

Join First Chinese Presbyterian home care workers to say: Pay the Workers Now & No More 24-hour Workdays!

Home care workers at First Chinese Presbyterian have been fighting to end the 24-hour workday and for back pay for the years they worked 24-hours while only being paid 13 hours. These workers work 24-hour shifts caring for elderly, disabled and ill people who need around-the-clock care in their homes. Hundreds of workers have spoken out against the 24-hour workdays, testifying to the damage working days on end without proper rest has had on their health and their family life and how splitting 24-hour shifts into at least two shifts of 12 would help protect them, and enable them to provide proper care to those requiring it.   Despite knowing this, FCP works with insurance companies to continue the 24-hour workdays and refuses to right its wrong by paying back the workers what they are owed. Are these the values and beliefs FCP stands for? Is this how the agency treats its workers and those who receive care?   Join workers to demand FCP pay back the workers now and to call on Governor Cuomo to stop the 24-hour shifts immediately and ensure the agency and insurance companies pay back the workers.     Join home attendants and other workers!Wednesday, December 11, 11amFirst Chinese Presbyterian Home Care Agency, 30 Broad Street, New York, NY

Join us to urge Gov. Cuomo to sign the bill now so workers can start using its tools to fight wage theft!

Wednesday, November 20, 12:30pm
@ 633 3rd Ave. btw 40 and 41 St., in front of Governor Cuomo’s office

Each year, 1 billion dollars of hard-earned money is stolen from workers in New York State. The SWEAT bill (A486/S2844) would give workers the tool to stop this rampant wage theft and it has passed the NYS legislature in June.

Governor Cuomo, what are you waiting for?

Join us to urge Gov. Cuomo to sign the bill now so workers can start using its tools to fight wage theft!

Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/3135424659819684/

Victory! Home Attendants Win Right to Demand 24 hours pay for 24 hours Worked!

Over a hundred home attendants from various NYC home care agencies and dozens of supporters convened at a workers’ center in Lower Manhattan Wednesday to celebrate several precedent-setting decisions issued in the past few weeks by the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division.  The decisions make the law clear:  it is illegal for employers to pay only 12 hours for 24-hour shifts.

For more than two years, home attendants who worked 24 hours a day for Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) and First Chinese Presbyterian (FCP) have been fighting against their employers to recover stolen wages. Home attendants in these cases were forced by employers to work grueling 24-hour shifts, and like Andryeyeva, Moreno and Tokhtaman, were only paid for 12 hours of work. When CPC and FCP home attendants went to their union, 1199 SEIU, to complain, the union not only ignored them, but went as far as to help the employers by signing a new collective bargaining agreement that prevents the home attendants from having their day in court. But the home attendants never gave up––instead they reached out to workers from other cases to continue fighting. They feel vindicated by the recent decisions.

The decisions were issued in the cases of Adriana Moreno v Future Care Health Services, Inc., Lilya Andryeyeva v New York Health Care, Inc. and Nina Tokhtaman v Human Care, LLC. The plaintiffs in all three cases were 24-hour home attendants who had not been paid for the overnight hours. The courts upheld the home attendants’ right to be paid for each of the 24 hours, “regardless of whether they were afforded opportunities for sleep and meals.”

Lai Yee Chan, a current CPC home attendant who attended the celebration today, said, “This is really good news for us! It means we will be able to get back the wages stolen from us by our agency. And it sends a warning to the companies that try to mess with workers’ hard-earned money. So it is good news not only for home attendants but also other workers across trades. We have been working 24-hour shifts for years, and many of us got injured due to long hours of work and became patients ourselves. This affects our quality of service, and therefore hurts both workers and the patients we are taking care of. We are demanding an end to the inhumane 24-hour shifts, and instead demanding a change to 12-hour shifts.”

A former FCP worker, Alvaro Ramirez, home attendant and member of the AIW campaign said, “Today, we are celebrating this victory as an important accomplishment. We will continue to fight and we are calling on all home attendants to unite with us and demand pay for all of the 24 hours worked and to stop mandatory overtime.”

The workers are asking other home attendants, regardless of agencies, whether in the union or not, to come out and join the campaign. They demand the agencies to pay back the stolen wages immediately and stop mandatory overtime.

Workers Call on Albany Legislators to Make the Minimum Wage Increase Real for All Workers

“With Minimum Wage Passed, Advocates Look to Wage Theft Issue” – Albany Times Union

“Workers Press for Bill to Assist Wage Theft Victims” – Public News Service

“Renewed Push to Prevent Wage Theft” – Capitol Tonight interview with Sarah Ahn and Susan Zimet of the SWEAT Coalition

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MEDIA RELEASE

Workers Call on Albany Legislators:

Make the Minimum Wage Increase Real for All Workers

On the heels of New York State’s minimum wage increase, workers and supporters are convening in Albany to say, a wage increase is critical, but will never be seen by many workers unless the Legislature also provides the tools needed to enforce the wage laws. Workers, advocates, and supporters from throughout NYS joined Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, Senator Jose Peralta and co-sponsors to call for passage of A5501/S2232, the Securing Wages Earned Against Theft (SWEAT) bill.

According to a study by the US Department of Labor released last year, workers in NY and California lose 1.6-2.5 billion dollars a year to wage theft. This means, workers are not being paid for the work they have already performed. Even with recent measures to combat wage theft in NYS, many millions of workers are routinely cheated out of their pay. This is because employers are able to shut down their shops, transfer and hide their assets and never pay even when workers win court judgments. Many workers who turn to government agencies meet the same fate. A report published last year by the SWEAT Coalition found that $125 million went uncollected on wage theft judgments and orders, of which $101 million were from orders by the State Department of Labor.

The proposed bill offers a simple solution to workers and enforcing government agencies by introducing new tools to combat wage theft. The bill will expand and improve existing mechanisms so unscrupulous employers cannot fraudulently dissipate their assets to evade court judgments and orders to pay owed wages.

Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, the bill’s lead sponsor, shared the experiences of her constituents and workers in her district who faced this uphill battle. “Without the ability to collect on a wage theft judgments, winning in court is not worth the

piece of paper it’s written on,” said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D/WF-Manhattan). “Some employers will go to any length to avoid paying workers their hard earned wages, including filing for bankruptcy, leaving hundreds of hard working New Yorkers owed hundreds of millions of dollars in earned wages. My bill, A.5501-C, the SWEAT bill, will arm aggrieved employees with a powerful tool to collect wages they earned, allowing them to file a wage lien against the assets of their employer.”

State Senator Jose Peralta (D-Queens), sponsor of the bill, noted, “Countless hardworking New Yorkers are abused on the job when it comes to straight out wage theft, the theft of tips, and payments below the minimum wage. Unfortunately, predatory and unscrupulous employers are stealing money from men and women who earn it to support their families. This is intolerable. If an employer steals from a worker, we should have every possible recourse available to remedy the situation. Period.”

Jei Fong, a representative of the SWEAT Coalition stated, “If our elected officials in Albany don’t pass the SWEAT bill this year, many workers will be left behind when wages are increased next year. It’s impossible to lift workers out of poverty when unscrupulous employers continue to underpay workers and can still avoid ever being held responsible. Our bill allows workers and the government to go after only the employers who break the law. This is good for workers, law-abiding employers, and the state.”

The Coalition behind this bill is a statewide coalition, representing workers, community, advocacy and faith-based groups from all over New York State.

Susan Zimet, executive director of Hunger Action Network of New York State stated, “It is criminal that workers, after putting in hours and hours of work, can then have their wages stolen from them! How is the worker supposed to put food on the table or pay their bills? What good is a law if the loopholes are so big it is ineffectual? It is imperative that the SWEAT bill is passed this legislative session and signed into law. Workers deserve the protection under the law, and SWEAT will do just that.”

“The wage theft epidemic in New York is not isolated to the NYC and downstate area—it’s a state-wide crisis that impacts workers and communities throughout the state, including areas of Upstate, Central and Western New York,” said Elizabeth Koo from Empire Justice Center’s Workers’ Rights Project in Rochester, NY.  “When wages are stolen from workers and they’re left unable to recover the money owed to them, it’s not only the workers who suffer—our government gets cheated of payroll taxes, it creates unfair competition to law-abiding businesses, and it hurts working families and our state’s economy.  The SWEAT bill is badly needed to address the far-reaching impacts of the wage theft crisis in New York.”

Nail Salon, Restaurant, Day Laborer Workers and Advocates Applaud Attention to Wage Theft and Enforcement Call on Gov. Cuomo to Support SWEAT Bill to Make Labor Law Enforceable

Stop Wage Theft

Nail salon, restaurant, day laborer, home attendant, office, and other workers have been standing up against wage theft and even winning decisions. But despite these judgments, workers have not been able to collect the wages owed to them because legal loopholes allow employers to completely escape responsibility. By fraudulently transferring assets, declaring bankruptcy, or shutting down their business and changing names, unscrupulous employers can avoid ever paying the stolen wages of even those workers who win decisions at the DOL or judgments in court, such as the nail salon workers at Babi Nails.

This not only causes many workers to suffer, it also undermines those employers who comply with the labor law. Even the Labor Department says it is frustrated because it cannot collect stolen wages.

As long as bosses can run away from the law, there will be no end to wage theft. The Coalition calls on the Governor to support the SWEAT bill (Securing Wages Earned Against Theft) to make the labor law enforceable and to put a stop to sweatshop conditions.