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Austin City Council passes wage theft protection ordinance

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Author: KVUE Staff
Published: December 2, 2022

The ordinance includes three elements that aim to protect workers and help them get full payment for the work that they do.

AUSTIN, Texas — On Thursday, the Austin City Council voted on a way to protect laborers.

The council unanimously passed an ordinance that it says will help prevent wage theft.

According to the Workers Defense Project, the ordinance will create a wage theft coordinator position to assist workers that come forward with reports of wage theft violations. The council said this will help make sure workers get full payment for the work that they do.

The ordinance will also create a publicly available database of employers that have a record of wage theft doing business with the City of Austin. It will also bar any employer identified in the database from entering into contracts with the City.

The Austin Monitor reports that the City does not have the authority to prosecute wage theft violators. That responsibility lies with the state and local governments.

Employers who are proven to have committed wage theft can be fined and even sentenced to jail time.

(See Article)

Houston Is Being Rebuilt on a Foundation of Wage Theft (TX)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

The exploitation after the storm.

JANUARY 22, 2018
BY BRYCE COVERT

Pittsburgh City Council gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a measure that would require a $15 an hour minimum wage for employees of some contractors.

The bill would apply to companies in professional service contracts with the city over $100,000.

According to data from the City Controller’s Office, 31 contracts over $100,000 were approved in 2015. Most were related to construction projects, health care and software upgrades.

When the measure was introduced on Monday, Nov. 20, Mayor Bill Peduto said implementing it would have a minimal effect on the cost of contracts and the city’s finances.

“We want to work with companies that also believe a worker’s value should be a minimum of $15 an hour,” he said. “We are hoping this will be the standard for which Pittsburgh companies will recognize the worth of their workers.”

Peduto said this was the second part of a city wage plan that began in November 2015, when he signed an executive order to gradually increase minimum wage for city employees to $15 an hour by 2021. It’s currently $12.50.

…

Wage theft and safety violations were rampant in Houston’s low-wage construction industry even before the storm hit, according to local worker centers. One study found that 12.4 percent of construction workers in the city suffered injuries on the job. “The Texas construction industry is … incredibly dangerous,” says José Garza, executive director of the Workers Defense Project. “For years, the industry has absolutely failed to prioritize safety.”

(Read More)

Study: Construction workers in southern US lack employment benefits

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Kim Slowey
May 11, 2017

 

Dive Brief:

  • A study has found that construction workers across the southern U.S. receive little to no employment benefits and have relatively low pay, according to the Houston Chronicle.
  • The Workers Defense Project report found that 40% of construction workers in Houston had no health insurance, retirement savings, paid vacations or sick leave. More than 30% were not offered breaks during the day and reported that their employer did not provide drinking water on the job.
  • Only 5% of the 1,435 workers interviewed in six Southern states said workers’ compensation covered the cost of their work injuries, and 57% said they earned less than $15 an hour.

Dive Insight:

The results of this study reinforce a complicated issue plaguing the industry. On one hand, contractors across the country are facing the consequences of skilled-labor shortages and say they’re pulling out all the stops – including raising pay – in an effort to recruit workers. However, this report reveals that, at least in the South, many companies aren’t making the necessary changes in compensation and workplace culture to be an attractive option for new workers.

(Read More)

(Full PDF of Report)

Committee votes to close living wage loophole

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Thursday, December 17, 2015
by Vicky Garza

 

 

City Council’s Economic Opportunity Committee approved a resolution at its meeting on Monday that would effectively close a loophole that allows some city contractors to avoid paying workers a living wage.

Both Bob Batlan, of Austin Interfaith, and Emily Timm, deputy director of Workers Defense Project, spoke in favor of the resolution.

“This is simply closing a loophole that currently allows bad actors to subcontract out and not comply with that living wage standard,” said Timm. She added that the requirements will ultimately “protect responsible contractors who are doing their best to comply with the city’s living wage standards that are already in place in the purchasing department.”

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Austin Council Standing Up For Prevailing Wages

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on
 J.W. Marriot developer, White Lodging, is in hot water for breaking a City of Austin contract by underpaying workers.The company received $3.8 million in tax breaks. Now council is giving them two options, pay the lost wages or pay back the city millions.Workers Defense Project spokesperson Patricia Zavala says they blew the whistle on the company. City auditors checked the numbers and found at least 13 employees were underpaid. Then the city ordered the developer to pay back the laborers in February, and then it was extended in March, then June.

(Read More)