On YouTube: Member Cleve Williams speaks at the New Orleans June 2009

Cleve tells the story of the Day Labor Organizing Project’s Rumpke Campaign!

January 16th, 2:00, The Hartwell Center, 54 Caldwell Dr., Cincinnati, OH (off of Vine St. Just north of the Hamilton Co. fairgrounds)

Join the Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center and a dozen other local organizations for this important event. Bring your friends and family to this diverse event. For questions please call CIWC at 513 621 5991. See you at the rally!

Check Out Online Resource Center for Wage Theft

by James Parks, Oct 31, 2009

Wage theft has become a national epidemic. A recent study found that low-wage workers in New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles are routinely denied proper overtime pay and often are paid less than minimum wage.

Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) is highlighting their stories at its new Wage Theft Online Resource Center, which also includes a list of resources and information about the wage theft crisis. Click here to visit the Wage Theft Online Resource Center.

The online center offers tools for workers seeking to collect wages that are legally due to them, such as contacts to worker centers, lawyers and unions and links to such sites as Can My Boss Do That? and National Employment Law Project.

While many of the victims of wage theft are immigrant workers, Kim Bobo, the author of Wage Theft in America, says the largest sums of money are missing from the paychecks of native-born, middle-income workers who are not paid what is due to them for working overtime.

On average, a low-wage worker lost more than $2,600 in annual income due to the violations, 15 percent of a worker’s yearly earnings. The illegal underpayment or non-payment of wages affects millions of workers each year, forcing many to choose between paying their rent and feeding their families.

Join IWJ and thousands of supporters on Nov. 19 for a National Day of Action to Stop Wage Theft. Across the nation, faith communities and activists will mobilize to host events to educate the public about wage theft, organize delegations of faith leaders to meet with state and federal legislators or hold rallies and prayer vigils for victims of wage theft.

For more information on the National Day of Action, contact Cara Gold (cgold@iwj.org) at 1-773-728-8400, ext. 34.

November 15, 2 pm

Interfaith Prayer Service for Immigration Reform, International Friendship Park, 1135 Eastern Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45202, Questions? Contact the Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center at 621-5991

November 19, all day!

National Day of Action to End Wage Theft

Come out and support low-wage workers put an end to wage theft in our communities! On the same day that Rep. Hare (D-IL) will announce the Wage Theft Act, locally we’ll be taking action. Participate in a day or coordinated education and outreach about wage theft.

5:00 am- Corner of Gilbert Ave. and Windsor (In Walnut Hills)
1:00 pm- Corner of Vine St. and 68th (In Carthage)
4:00 pm- Corner of 5th and Walnut (Downtown)
5:30 pm- Press Conference at 40 E. McMicken Ave. CIWC Office

See the flyer pdf to learn all of the details about the four activities going on that day. Questions? Contact the Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center at 513 621

In this Issue:

Victories

Director’s report

Wage Theft Report

Labor Day Greetings

english / español (pdf format - Acrobat Reader needed)

A hard ending for housekeepers, September 17, Boston Globe, Katie Johnston Chase,“I don’t know how they can treat people like that,” said Lucine Williams, who lost her job at the Hyatt Regency Boston.

Real “Norma Rae” Dies of Cancer After Insurer, Delayed Treatment, September 14, by Sue Sturgis. 
The North Carolina union organizer who was the inspiration for the movie “Norma Rae” died on Friday of brain cancer after a battle with her insurance company, which delayed her treatment.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer, August 28, 2009, Wage theft reports on the rise By Dan Horn featuring CIWC’S Executive Director Don Sherman’s comments

From the Institute for Southern Studies, August 3, 2009: Immigrant detainees hunger strike over conditions in La. detention facility