The action was organized by Workers United as part of our “Stolen Wages” campaign. Workers United was launched earlier in the year by a group of precarious workers, trade unionists and community activists. Funded and based out of the Canadian Union of Public Employees local 3906 at McMaster University, but open to anyone (except bosses, of course), the purpose of Workers United is to support unorganized workers on campus and in the local community to enforce their basic workers’ rights and organize for collective power in their workplaces. The “Stolen Wages” campaign is Workers United’s first public action.

Stolen wages are a major problem for thousands of workers in our city. According to a study done by the Workers Action Centre in Toronto, over $150 million in stolen wages was reported in the province between 2001 and 2006. Bosses cheat workers out of wages in a number of ways: not paying for training, making workers believe they are self-employed or independent contractors when in fact they are employees, not paying for overtime and/or holidays, not keeping records of hours worked, or fabricating the record of hours worked, paying less than minimum wage for job classification, stealing tips, making workers pay for damaged materials, or flat-out refusal to pay.

Workers who have their wages stolen often have nowhere to turn. Filing a claim with the Ministry of Labour is a drawn-out process that rarely results in the return of all the wages owed. The study mentioned above also reported over $100 million in workers’ wages remained unpaid between 2001 and 2006, despite Ministry of Labour orders to employers to pay. Precarious workers are on their own when it comes to enforcing the legislation, and bosses know it.

This is why we launched our campaign. Directly confronting companies that steal workers’ pay is the most effective way to recover stolen wages. We know this because millions of dollars in stolen wages have been won by workers’ groups across the continent, using creative tactics, direct actions and public campaigns. In fact, November 18 is the second annual Day of Action Against Wage Theft in the US, where wage theft is estimated to cost workers $19 billion dollars each year. Actions are planned across 50 cities.

Workers United hopes others will join our Stolen Wages campaign and help us build an effective fighting organization of and for precarious workers. The need is there, and so are the means to fight back.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

www.hamiltonworkersunited.com