As part of a long-term project, a group of students in the Original Civic Research and Action, OCRA, class at Mamaroneck High School is on a mission to educate the community about workers’ rights violations within the Larchmont-Mamaroneck community and increase the reporting of local wage theft. Each year, students in the OCRA class identify community issues, such as workers’ rights violations, with which they wish to study and address with their peers.
Through conversations with local stakeholders, one group of OCRA students discovered that wage theft—the denial of wages agreed upon, including minimum wage, overtime pay, and tips—is a problem in their own backyards and one that disproportionately affects undocumented workers. The students’ public awareness campaign around workers’ rights is targeted to both employees and employers.
“Lack of education is a major contributing factor to the prevalence of wage theft,” said OCRA group member Ben Kulish. “A large portion of wage theft victims
are undocumented workers; we’ve identified that this is primarily due to a lack of knowledge of the rights granted to undocumented citizens as workers. While it is illegal to hire a worker when under the knowledge that they are undocumented, under the Fair Labor Standards Act, once the work has been done, the
employee must receive minimum wage regardless of documentation status. This is a significant NYS law that is commonly overlooked or ignored.”
In order to increase awareness, and when necessary, the official reporting of wage theft to the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, the OCRA students produced a public service announcement for both local business owners and employees in collaboration with the Mamaroneck Community Resource Center and LMC Media. The PSA emphasizes employers legal responsibilities and obligations to their employees. Additionally, the OCRA students have an ongoing relationship with the county District Attorney’s Office, which has created a hotline for workers to report infringements on their rights.
“We are pleased that the hotline offers a safe resource for potential victims regardless of immigration status. It is an important step towards building trust between local government and undocumented workers,” said group member Léa Barry-Thouez. (Submitted)
