In this country, the most common property crime is also the one least reported and enforced.
Wage theft is BY FAR the largest category of property crime in the US, accounting for tens of billions of dollars in stolen wages, rest break violations, and off-the-clock violations. Whether it's paying less than minimum wage, withholding tips or pressuring staff to work off the clock, wage theft regularly steals billions from Americans' paychecks, and it can take a million different shapes and forms.
One recent example in Chicago is the paramedics and EMTs working for the large private company Elite Ambulance. Workers say the company illegally deducted the cost of red light and speed camera tickets incurred on the job from their paychecks. In a class action wage theft lawsuit filed last week in Cook County court, plaintiffs say instead of contesting the tickets, incurred during emergency calls while running with lights and sirens, the company charged the cost of the moving violations against employees’ pay without their consent. These workers are doing their jobs, saving lives, and their employer decided to charge them for doing their job? Seems suspicious.
A recent study revealed that 3 million Texas workers are paid less than minimum wage. Employers have been fined $99 million for paying workers less than the established minimum of $7.25, but bosses are simply ignoring the fine. While millions of dollars in back wages were ordered across more than 57,000 cases from 2010 to 2020, 80% of those payments have yet to be received by workers. Labor law means nothing without enforcement.
All it takes is throwing a handful or corrupt CEO’s in prison for robbing and exploiting their employees, I reckon that would help slow the rate of wage theft.
Side Items
Earthquake x Hurricane (Tropical Storm): Tropical Storm Hilary, formerly known as Hurricane Hilary, flooded streets across Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula with deadly floodwaters yesterday before moving on up to Southern California, where it swamped roads and downed trees. Forecasters said Hilary was the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, bringing flash floods, mudslides, high winds, power outages and the potential for isolated tornadoes. California got another little treat in the afternoon as an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 5.1 hit about 80 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Those Californians just can’t seem to catch a break right now. Might be a sign to pay the writers
Muskrat Pulling the Strings: This article written by Ronan Farrow explores how the US government empowered Elon and allowed him to have an outsize impact on the ongoing proxy war between Ukraine and Russia. SpaceX, has been providing Internet access across Ukraine for months, allowing the country’s forces to plan attacks and to defend themselves using their Starlink services. Now Starlink is described as “the backbone of communication on the battlefield”, which gives Elon a particularly powerful (and incredibly undeserved) diplomatic role. It’s no surprise that he’s leveraged this power into a threat if his demands aren’t met. This bozo is a hostage-taker masquerading as a hero
British Baby Killer: Lucy Letby, a former neonatal nurse convicted of murdering seven babies in her care and trying to kill six others at a hospital in northern England was sentenced this morning to life in prison with no chance of release. Letby, who refused to appear in court to face her sentencing or to hear grieving parents share their anger and anguish, was given the harshest punishment possible under British law, which does not allow the death penalty. I’m not sure there’s a punishment fitting this crime, but she’ll answer for her crimes, in this life or the next