Maria Ligero is on her way to demand approximately $600 from Garden Fresh, a small company in
Brooklyn that neglected to pay her for two weeks of her work in food preparation.
In the US wage theft costs workers $50 billion a year. Yes, $50 billion.
In New York alone, 2.1 million workers are victims of wage theft annually cheated out of cumulative
$3.2 Billion in wages and benefits they are owed.” In New York alone 2.1 Million workers
are victims of wage theft annually. They are cheated out of $3.2 Billion in wages and benefits.
Maria works as a day laborer to support herself and her four children. When her employer refused
to pay her, she reached out to an organization called the Worker’s Justice Project. So
the organizers decide to write a letter to demand the outstanding pay and they decide
to deliver the letter personally to Maria’s employer.
HAMAJI: "New York has one of the strongest wage theft
protection laws in the country but despite this wage theft is still very pervasive and
that’s because we need stronger enforcement." MARIN: "And that’s what I see in a lot of
the day laborer cases, these are not complex legal cases because the law is clearly on
the worker’s side but this shows how these employers, unscrupulous employers really don’t care about the law."
CARLOS: "Mr. Elk, good afternoon, how are you? I am Juan Carlos,
I am here with the Worker’s Justice Project, I am with Maria here outside of your business,
we’re trying to deliver a message to you but you are not in, I am wondering if you
will be stopping by your workplace today?"
CARLOS: "Good afternoon, sir. Hello we’re here to talk regarding
Maria’s pay." ELK: "What’s the problem?" CARLOS: "She was not paid for the hours that
she worked." ELK: "So?" CARLOS: "We are here to ask as an organization--" ELK: "I got a phone, I got an email, what's going on here now?"
CARLOS: "You haven't paid." ELK: "I understand but I got an email. What's the problem? I don’t care. Do whatever you want."
"What's done is done. I don't care. I do whatever I wanna do. You can do whatever you want. Be happy! Bye!"
When it’s time to pay many employers simply disappear. HAMAJI: "And it is often a very
systematic part of an employer’s business strategy." And women day laborers are especially vulnerable.
MARIN: "They’re often working mainly in isolation and Maria worked only
with one other person. They’re also working much more sporadically than let’s say a
male day laborer who’s doing a construction job." Fortunately Maria can provide legal
evidence for her case. MARIN: "We do have some pay records, we do have a set schedule that she followed."
In Maria’s case she would need to go to the small claims court because
her claim is under $5,000. MARIN: "And right now in New York City the small claims court
cases are backlogged and workers are not getting their first hearing for at least six months."
And even after Maria wins in court she will still have to take additional legal steps
to go after the employer’s assets. MARIN: "This could take months, years before she
sees these two weeks of wages that she’s owed - which is absurd!" The organizers try
to use Maria’s case to create greater solidarity among the women day laborers in Brooklyn.
The Workers’ Justice Project does not stop calling Maria’s employer. One month after
the first confrontation he finally offers to pay. He tells them to pick up the check