By Jeniffer Solis
March 14, 2019
The Arriba Las Vegas Worker Center got its start a little more than a year ago by surveying 300 day laborers. One-third had been a victim of wage theft in the two months prior to the survey.
“It’s almost a ubiquitous phenomenon for low-wage workers, particularly in industries like construction, landscaping, and homecare professionals, daycare, and eldercare,” said Bliss Requa-Trautz, director of the Arriba Las Vegas Worker Center.
While wage theft exists throughout the workforce, it is widespread among the most vulnerable Nevada workers, said Requa-Trautz.
On Tuesday, working Nevadans met with state Labor Commissioner Shannon Chambers at Arriba Las Vegas Worker Center. Victims detailed wage theft experiences in an effort to push for more responsive solutions from the office of the Labor Commissioner.
One man spoke of his experience working for an employer who gradually stopped paying him before threatening to report him to the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“I want you to help me get the pay I deserve for the work I did,” said the man in his native Spanish.
Yesenia Mejia, another victim of wage theft, told the commissioner about a case she filed in 2018 for a construction company she said refused to pay for the work of several employees. The Labor Commission refused to take texts, photos, and voicemails as evidence of the theft, said Mejia, and instead told workers to take their complaint to small claims court which would cost money they did not have. In the end the construction company was never penalized despite the various complaints, said Mejia.
“Please help us enforce penalties and get justice. Let them get what they deserve. If they don’t pay us, give them penalties or take their license,” Mejia pleaded.