by Dr. Arcelita Imasa
Can you share about your working relationship with the Department of Labor?
–Reader
Dear Reader,
Thank you for your question!
Recently, Julie Su, the Acting Secretary of the Federal Department of Labor commemorated the anniversary of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire that killed 147 garment workers in New York City.
Many of the mostly immigrant women who worked in cramped conditions were unable to escape because the employer had locked the exits and the only working exit from the tall building had collapsed in the fire.
No fire safety equipment existed on site.
The now infamous, horrendous, and preventable tragedy prompted the federal government to create programs that generations of American workers have relied on for economic security and dignity, including a nationwide minimum wage, health and safety regulations, restrictions on child labor, and more, including the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA).
Secretary Su also noted that employers whose workforces are mostly women or immigrants have historically often broken the law, exposing workers to dangerous conditions and cheating workers of overtime pay or fair wages.
Workers are due overtime pay at one and one-half their hourly pay for more than 40 hours of work in a workweek.
This problem persists in the present.
The Hawaii Workers Center (HWC) and the Hawaii State and the Federal Departments of Labor are working to address it.
The HWC has helped many workers gain thousands of dollars in overtime pay and back wages owed them due to “wage theft.”
We also help workers address unsafe working conditions due to heat, wet, slippery floors, lack of proper equipment or inadequate ventilation, and more.
We work closely with the Departments of Labor to correct these injustices.
Recently the Department of Labor fined a company $2.8 million after investigating serious injuries to three workers and recovered more than $1 million for 165 workers whose employer had cheated them of overtime pay, the largest settlement ever for California garment workers.
To learn more about your workers’ rights, and safety at work or to get assistance in addressing unsafe working conditions, discrimination, or “wage theft” contact the Hawaii Workers Center.
Reach out to us at phone number (503)967-5377 or (503)WORKERS).
The Hawaii Workers Center also offers Know Your Workers’ Rights trainings and can help you learn about all your workers’ rights and stick up for your rights.
Contact nelson@hawaiiworkerscenter.org to request training.
Sincerely,
Hawaii Workers Center
ARCELITA IMASA is a practicing family physician and the secretary of the Hawaii Workers Center’s Executive Committee of the Board. She grew up in the Philippines before migrating to Hawaii with her family more than a decade ago.
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