by Sue Woodcock * March 22, 2019
Quite simply, wage theft happens when someone does work and is not paid for it.
“Immigrants are easy targets, most don’t realize it’s a crime,” said Kathleen Santora, a member of the recently appointed to the Lynn Wage Theft Taskforce and a union painter representing the Painters Union District Council 35 Local 939. “But wage theft can happen to anyone in any industry.”
“We have a very strong ordinance in Lynn, it has some teeth in it and can actually do something,” Santora said. Having a taskforce in place also makes a difference.
The Wage Theft Taskforce, comprised of one (1) designee submitted by the Lynn City Council, one (1) designee submitted by the Mayor, one (1) representative chosen by the Lynn City Council from a list provided by the North Shore Labor Council, one (1) representative chosen by the Lynn City Council from a list provided by the Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce, one (1) representative chosen by the Lynn City Council from a list provided by the North Shore Latino Business Association, one (1) representative chosen by the Lynn City Council from a list provided by the North Shore Building Trades Council, one (1) representative chosen by the Lynn City Council from a list provided by the Lynn Worker Center, and one (1) representative from the Lynn community chosen by the Lynn City Council from a list provided by New Lynn Coalition. Members of the Wage Theft Advisory Committee may be reappointed annually and must be appointed no later than the second meeting of the new year.
The wage ordinance was passed by the Lynn City Council in March 2018 after it was offered as a motion by then City Councilor and now State Representative Peter Capano.
“A business owner has the opportunity to do the right thing and pay up. Then they can continue doing business as usual with a bond to cover paying the employee for a year or it can end up in the attorney general’s office,” said Santora, who is a leading advocate for the building trades. She was nominated to the committee by the North Shore Labor Council.