As part of the Interfaith Worker Justice National Day of Action to Stop Wage Theft, the Student Labor Action Coalition and the Workers’ Rights Center sponsored a panel discussion to educate students and community members on the growing problem of wage theft on the local and national level Thursday.

In the majority of cases in which employers disobey labor laws, they commit some sort of wage theft, which can include requiring workers to work off the clock, paying workers a wage below the minimum wage amount and refusing to pay workers at a higher rate during their overtime work, said Carlos Miranda of the WRC.

Employers steal $4 billion annually from workers through the practice of wage theft, Miranda said.

They use people’s lack of knowledge of labor laws to cheat them out of the money they deserve.

Emphasizing the problem of wage theft on a local level, Miranda said that probably every other store on State Street commits the crime in some form.

Even though the amount of wage theft is increasing, the Federal Department of Labor — the institution in charge of enforcing labor laws — does very little to support those whose money is being stolen, said John Hickey of the WRC.

“The department is a complete joke and is in shambles,” Hickey said. “Employers know there is no need to worry about what the government may do.”

Since the current government administration seems open to change, WRC and other organizations that desire to see the eradication of wage theft must push to force improvements on the federal level, Hickey said.

There were 30 demonstrations nationwide today, according to Hickey.

“People are making noise, and that noise will change things,” Hickey said. “If we all team up, we will see change.”

Although businesses no longer fear government action, they are concerned about trouble that members of the community may start, Miranda said.

Since they value their reputation within the community, direct action by employees, students and other community members are sadly the only way to force employers to pay their workers, Miranda added.

Actions such as putting up signs at businesses stating the fact that employers steal from their workers or protesting at an employer’s house and then posting the protest on YouTube always serve to catch the attention of the employer, Miranda said.

SLAC recently gained a victory in this battle for workers’ rights when Russell Athletic, a former UW licensee that violated the labor code of conduct by shutting down a factory in Honduras after the workers’ attempt to unionize, consented to meeting the workers’ demands and to reopening the factory.

Pressured by a student-led national boycott, Russell agreed to rehire all of the workers and to recognize the right to form a union.

“Russell reopening the factory is an unprecedented event, because no company has ever been forced to do so,” UW senior and SLAC member Jan Van Tol said. “This is the first time that we have proven that the code of conduct can be enforced.”