A Christmas Present for Workers: Wal-Mart's New Settlement & the Wage Theft Crisis

December 24, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 24, 2008

Interview Opportunity:

Kim Bobo | Executive Director, Interfaith Worker Justice

kbobo@iwj.org | 773-728-8400, ext. 13

"A Great Christmas Present for Workers"

Major Wal-Mart Settlement Highlights Problem of Wage Theft, Suggests Possible New Trend

Wal-Mart has agreed to settle 63 federal and state wage-theft suits against the company. The suits claimed that Wal-Mart underpaid hourly workers and forced them to work through breaks. The company will repay workers between $352 million and $640 million, depending upon how many workers file claims for unpaid wages.

"This is a great Christmas present for workers," said Kim Bobo, Executive Director of Interfaith Worker Justice and author of the just-published book Wage Theft in America: Why Millions of Working Americans Are Not Getting Paid-And What We Can Do About It. "As the nation's trendsetting company, let's hope Wal-Mart sets a new trend of employers paying workers for all their work."

In 2007, over 7,000 lawsuits were filed in federal court under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claiming workers were underpaid. Thousands more suits were filed in state courts. According to experts, billions of dollars are stolen annually from millions of workers.

Such routine theft of wages hurts working families, undermines ethical businesses, and deprives public coffers of revenues. "What better way to stimulate the economy," Bobo suggested, "than to ensure that all workers are paid?"

Interfaith Worker Justice is the leading national organization engaging people of faith in ensuring that workers are paid and treated fairly. It coordinates a national network of 20 workers centers that aid workers whose employers have robbed them of wages.

In response to the current economic crisis, IWJ recently prepared a Congregational Toolkit for faith communities to help members cope with unemployment and hard times.

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