Wage Theft is a Bigger Problem Than Other Forms of Theft (2014)

Re:Wage Theft is a Bigger Problem Than Other Forms of Theft ... by jdietrich on Saturday June 02, 2018 @06:34PM (#17216768)

>Workers cannot rely on policy makers

The fact that they can't represents a major political failure. Good policies can make a huge difference.

Here in the UK, the HMRC (our tax authority) is responsible for enforcing the National Minimum Wage. This makes a great deal of sense. Employers are legally required to report wage payments to HMRC for payroll tax purposes and the HMRC have tremendous institutional capacity for conducting financial investigations. For HMRC, a minimum wage complaint is a twofer - underpaid wages mean less revenue from payroll taxes and is usually a sign of tax evasion. HMRC operate a confidential hotline for reporting violations of the minimum wage law.

Where workers need to resolve a complaint, they can access mediation or binding arbitration completely free of charge. There is inevitably the risk of retaliatory action by an employer, but at least employees have the ability to enforce their rights without having to pay for legal representation.

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Re:Wage Theft is a Bigger Problem Than Other Forms of Theft ... by Thlom on Saturday June 02, 2018 @06:44PM (#17216803)

Not knowing the UK very well, but you have had and still have strong unions with political representation through the Labour party. If labour isn't organised you will not get good (for the working class) policy. Politics is the formal battle of interests and if labour doesn't show up to the fight, the capital owners wins on walkover.

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Re:Wage Theft is a Bigger Problem Than Other Forms of Theft ... by jdietrich on Saturday June 02, 2018 @07:07PM (#17216904)

Our trade unions were kneecapped by Thatcher back in the 80s. A Labour government introduced the minimum wage, but the current Conservative government is progressively increasing it from £6.50 in 2015 to £9 by 2020. Employment tribunals were introduced in 1996 by a Conservative government; a Conservative government introduced relatively high fees in 2013, but this was overturned by the Supreme Court last year.

Unions are part of the picture, but they're a reflection of a broader political culture. Trade unions can't turn the electorate socialist, but a socialist electorate can build strong trade unions.

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Re:Wage Theft is a Bigger Problem Than Other Forms of Theft ... by 49531 on Saturday June 02, 2018 @06:38PM (#17216780)

The UK also has an explicit party for labor. The US has nothing of the sort. The Democratic party used to be the labor party but as since joined the Republicans as a corporate funded organization. Hard to pass labor laws when your big donors are employers.

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