Not long after the state of Minnesota enacted what is thought to be the toughest wage theft law in the nation, the city of Minneapolis isn't stopping there.
The statewide law raises the wage theft penalty to a felony and provides protections against retaliation, but the Minneapolis Public Health, Environment, Civil Rights, and Engagement Committee Monday voted unanimously to move forward with its own ordinance to crack down. It will go before the full council Aug. 8.
The city ordinance requires employers to provide proper notice of wages and pay statements and lays out fines for violations while also addressing retaliation. Author and councilmember Phillipe Cunningham says reinforcing the state law will allow the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights to field reports at the local level to collaborate with the state Labor and Industry Department and the Attorney General's office.
Before the committee vote, a large rally preceded a passionate, hour-and-a-half-long public hearing with workers from construction, restaurants, low-wage jobs and more, union and non-union alike, sharing personal stories. One woman said an employer offered to return stolen wages in exchange for a sex act. Others described feeling powerless and worried about losing their income altogether if they reported.
"Wages are already -- you're getting paid the minimum wage, white collar workers don't get what that means," John Sandahl with Restaurant Opportunities Center said. "They don't get what it means to work 40 to 60 hours a week and just be able to pay rent and put food on the table. So when wages are stolen from you, you're at this place where not only can you not pay your rent or pay for food, you feel extremely isolated and alone."
Dan McConnell with the Minneapolis Building and Construction Trades Council says managers have a "moral obligation" to do the right thing and treat workers with respect. He says they as an organization have fielded reports of teens on sites, work getting done at night and over weekends and other serious allegations.
"One is too many, right, but we've gotten multiple calls about people who get hurt and are whisked away in the back of a pick-up truck and never seen again," he said.
He highlighted the ongoing case of Ricardo Batres of Crystal, who was charged with felony counts of labor trafficking, insurance fraud and theft last fall, for allegedly threatening to report his undocumented workers if they didn't work long hours with no overtime.
McConnell says the efforts are to support all workers.
"It should not matter if you arrived in this country last week, (or) if you've been here for 10 generations...every person who wears a high-vis vest or goes to work on a construction site deserves a fair wage and a safe job site," he said.
The state Attorney General's office hired a full-time leader of the wage theft unit and new full-time investigator, per Attorney General Keith Ellison who spoke to the rally crowd. The AG's office says an estimated 40,000 Minnesotans lose a total of $12 million every year due to wage theft.
The ordinance would not immediately apply to independent contractors and it also doesn't include many public workers.