The previous few years have seen a flurry of employees organizing throughout the nation, from Starbucks and Amazon employees to new types of cooperative possession and governance sharing. NPQ’s column, We Stood Up, options the voices of individuals doing the onerous work of realizing financial justice of their workplaces. These tales come from employees who need to share their experiences constructing a democratic financial system and a fairer world in order that others can be taught from their efforts.
As a caregiver, it may be onerous to say when my shifts begin and finish. Day and night time, I work, caring for aged sufferers who can not dwell independently. I transfer sufferers from their beds to the wheelchairs, change their diapers, administer drugs, and feed their meals. I do laundry, clear the home, and supply sufferers with what they should really feel secure and cozy. Some want particular consideration, like being rotated each two hours to forestall mattress sores. Typically I don’t get an entire night time’s sleep to make sure sufferers with dementia don’t wander exterior in the course of the night time. After I end with one individual, I repeat the routine with others—each day.
It’s tough work, however I consider my sufferers like household, so I endured. That’s why I used to be indignant to be paid solely $54 a day by my earlier employer. I obtained no extra time pay, regardless of what number of hours I labored. I later realized this can be a type of wage theft after speaking to coworkers working with the Pilipino Employee Middle, a nonprofit that helps enhance circumstances for Pilipino employees in Southern California.
We had been afraid of what would occur, however we had been not going via it alone.
Wage theft will be onerous to show, and it’s common in industries that already pay low wages. In California alone, tens of 1000’s of employees in eating places and motels, building, farms, warehouses, and extra aren’t paid their full wages.
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After I realized my employer was stealing my wages, I saved my head down at first. I couldn’t go away my job as a result of I wanted to help my household within the Philippines. However the longer I stayed, the extra upset I acquired. I advised my supervisor that my wage didn’t match the hours I labored, however they advised me I wouldn’t be paid extra due to my immigration standing. I felt like somebody was robbing me, although I used to be working onerous.
Quickly, I noticed it wasn’t simply me. Lots of my colleagues skilled the identical remedy. After we complained, our employer ignored us after which threatened to report us to immigration authorities. However we didn’t hand over, submitting a grievance with the California Labor Commissioner’s Workplace. We had been afraid of what would occur, however we had been not going via it alone. We had one another.
With assist from the Pilipino Employee Middle and immigration legal professionals, we cast a path towards demanding honest remedy on the job, and we took authorized motion towards our employers for violating our rights.
Final yr, our group of over 140 fellow caregivers obtained our first cost towards a settlement of over $5 million—California’s largest settlement in a residential care wage theft case—for years of underpaid work. Now, salaries are based mostly on the regulation, not what the boss says.
Elevating our voices was price it as a result of we modified the caregiving trade. However this isn’t only a win for us. It’s a step ahead for all employees whose wages are unfairly stolen—regardless of the trade.