Interfaith Worker Justice of Nebraska has been working tirelessly to bring religious voices to bear on the vital issue of health care reform -- holding a public forum on the issue, participating in a candlelight vigil and march, organizing congressional delegations both in Lincoln and in Washington, and engaging in a creative consciousness-raising project to publicize people's personal stories and ordeals with the health care system. Now IWJ's affiliate in Nebraska has sent an impassioned letter to Senator Ben Nelson on the issue, signed by 28 faith leaders in the state:

As clergy and leaders within our faith traditions, we believe that every person has been created to live with dignity and wholeness. In today's world, this requires access to health care. Providing universal access to health care is a moral and spiritual imperative.

Stop Wage Theft

On November 19th, organizations and individuals in more than 40 cities across the country joined together on IWJ's National Day of Action to Stop Wage Theft. See the media coverage of the coordinated events and visit www.wagetheft.org for more information.

Wage Theft is the crime wave that nobody talks about. How many people do you know who have been victims of Wage Theft? Please fill out our online survey and print out surveys to distribute to your friends.

This common sense bill would restore the ability of workers to form unions without the threats, harassment and intimidation that too many employers now routinely use to sabotage union organizing. The battleground for passing the bill will be in the U.S. Senate. Call your senator now toll-free at 877-331-1223.

   If you are a member of the clergy or a religious congregational leader, consider joining Interfaith Worker Justice's Religious Leaders for the Employee Free Choice Act spokesperson team. Religious leaders will be provided training to speak publicly about the Employee Free Choice Act and educate their communities about this crucial legislation.

To join the spokesperson team, please email Jonathan Currie or call 773-728-8400, ext. 14.

Many religious leaders throughout the country have had direct experience working with women and men struggling for a voice on the job, fair wages and benefits, and security for their families. The Employee Free Choice Act will allow workers real freedom to form and join unions without fear or intimidation. Members of the media are encouraged to arrange times to speak with these leaders about their experiences and why they support the Employee Free Choice Act. Click here to view the bios of Religious Spokespersons for the Employee Free Choice Act.

See IWJ's Video on the Employee Free Choice Act and our Employee Free Choice Act Delegation Toolkit.

See new IWJ resources on health care.

Interfaith Worker Justice applauds Leading House Democrats, who recently introduced a critical piece of legislation to ensure that workers do not lose their wages while the U.S. Department of Labor investigates wage theft by employers who drag the process out. The legislation is a welcome response to a stinging Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation that revealed the federal government's abysmal failure to enforce the nation's wage and hour laws.

The Wage Theft Prevention Act (H.R. 3303) is based on a GAO recommendation made in a recent report. The bill would ensure that delays in investigating claims of wage theft will not result in a permanent loss of back pay for workers. The GAO found many investigations of wage theft were inadequately handled by the Bush administration's Wage and Hour Division and were dropped because the statute of limitations is too short and investigations took too long. To ensure that workers do not lose their hard-earned wages, the bill would freeze the statute of limitations from the date an employer is informed of an investigation until the agency notifies the employer that the investigation has concluded.

An undercover investigation by the GAO found that the Wage and Hour Division's complaint intake, complaint resolution, and investigation processes were ineffective and discouraged workers from lodging wage theft complaints. In one case, a GAO investigator called the Department of Labor to report that 14-year old children were operating dangerous equipment at a meat-processing plant, a clear and heinous violation of child labor law. The DOL later reported that they had contacted the employer and resolved the case, even though the company was fictitious.

IWJ, along with its national network of religion-labor groups and worker centers, will mobilize extensive grassroots support for the passage of the Wage Theft Prevention Act, as the organization continues its national campaign to end wage theft.

In many industries -- meat processing, retail, restaurants, garment assembly, and construction, to name a few -- there is a rampant crisis of wage theft. Simply put, workers are having their legal wages stolen by unscrupulous employers trying to gain an advantage over their law-abiding competitors. We all know someone who has had his or her wages stolen -- by not being paid at all, not getting overtime, having to work off the clock, being misclassified as "independent contractors," or a host of other means by which lawbreakers cheat their workers.

To learn more about wage theft see Thou Shalt Not Steal - A Toolkit on Wage Theft.

Order Kim Bobo's book Wage Theft in America. Use our study guide to form a wage theft study/action group in your congregation.

VICTORY AT REBUBLIC WINDOWS AND DOORS! In support of workers combating wage theft, Interfaith Worker Justice and its affiliate organization ARISE Chicago participated in actions December 9th and 10th in front of the shut-down Republic Windows and Doors factory and Bank of America's downtown office. Employees have been occupying the factory since December 5th to demand unpaid wages. View photos from both events.

This is a period of great hope and a period of tremendous fear. We have a new administration coming to power and a newly constituted congress-and many people of faith and conscience have great hopes that government can stand up again for workers and their families and communities. Our faith traditions demand justice for workers and the poor.

The economy is in deep distress. Thus far, the government has focused on bailing out large banks and investment firms. But we know that workers have been suffering long before the current stock market meltdown, even while hedge fund managers and investment banks were giddy over their huge earnings. Low -wage workers in particular have long seen their standard of living decline. Interfaith Worker Justice calls on the incoming congress and administration to put the needs of workers and their families at the forefront of plans and programs to repair and stimulate the economy.

See the Congregational Toolkit on Unemployment and the Economic Crisis.

Are you unemployed? Having trouble at work? Don’t know your rights?
Then www.CanMyBossDoThat.com is for you. There are many reasons why employees ask themselves, “Can my boss do that?” Work rules, hiring and firing, work safety, pay, benefits, time off, and workers’ rights are all concerns addressed on this new website designed to ensure that all workers are treated justly. Whatever your reason for asking “Can my boss do that?” this website will be a helpful resource for you. 

Visit or share www.CanMyBossDoThat.com and continue your journey toward justice.
Can My Boss Do That? is a member of the Interfaith Worker Justice Network.

NOW AVAILABLE!

Wage Theft in America: Why Millions of Working Americans Are Not Getting Paid -
And What We Can Do About It
By Kim Bobo

In what has been described as "the crime wave no one talks about," wages are stolen from millions of workers in the United States ever year. Between two and three million workers are paid less than the minimum wage. More than three million are misclassified by their employers as independent contractors when they are really employees, allowing employers to shirk their share of payroll taxes and to illegally deny workers overtime pay. Even the Economic Policy Foundation, a business- funded think tank, estimated that companies annually steal 19 billion dollars in unpaid overtime. The scope of these abuses is staggering, and in response, activists, unions, and policymakers are beginning to take notice. Nationally-recognized social justice activist Kim Bobo's Wage Theft in America is an incisive handbook for activists, organizers,workers, and concerned citizens on how to prevent the flagrant exploitation of America's working people. Bobo offers a sweeping analysis of the crisis, citing hard-hitting statistics and heartbreaking first-person accounts of exploitation at the hands of employers. She then offers concrete solutions, with special attention to what a new Presidential administration can do to address one of the gravest issues facing workers in the 21st-century.

See what others say:

"Kim Bobo has written an excellent and informative book on one of the most pressing issues facing millions of hardworking Americans. She offers bold, practical, and progressive solutions for how policymakers and advocates can end the growing crisis of wage theft in America."

-Senator Edward M. Kennedy

"Wage Theft in America sheds light on a widespread problem that many are not aware of. Anyone who works for a living or knows someone who does should read this."

-Bishop Gabino Zavala, Archdiocese of Los Angeles

"This is a powerful, timely, and enormously important book for the religious community, social justice organizers, and all who care about justice in the workplace."

-Rev. Nelson N. Johnson, executive director, Beloved Community Center, Greensboro, North Carolina

Order your copy HERE