Richmond Industrial Workers of the World

How To Protect Yourself Against Wage Theft

Richmond IWW — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:54:43 +0000

How To Protect Yourself Against Wage Theft

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. For many of us, as wage earners, our livelihoods depend (read: forced to work) on wages, especially when the dependence is immediate, meaning you live paycheck to paycheck. We are essentially at the will of the employer, for better and for worse; enslaved by the wage system in which employers use to exploit the working class. This is where the term ‘wage slave’ stems from.

So what can we do to protect ourselves from such exploitation?

One thing we must always remember — labor creates all wealth, and no boss should come between us and that wealth. It is the historic mission of the working class to do away with capitalism, to organize ourselves, not only for everyday struggle with capitalists, but to carrying on production when the capitalist system is abolished.

Exploitation takes on many shapes and sizes, but today we’re going to talk about one of the most complex and growing problems for workers as employers try all they can to squeeze as much surplus/free labor out of their workers. That is the problem of “Wage Theft” — when employers illegally underpay their workers. The top two methods of wage theft are unpaid overtime and employee misclassification.

Here are some simple, tried and true ways to protect yourself and your fellow workers:

Track Your Hours - The U.S. Department of Labor has created a smartphone app to help workers track their hours. If you don’t have a smart phone, it is still important to keep your own records. Write down hours worked, break times, and any over time worked.

Keep A Work Journal - A workplace journal is always a good idea. The more detailed your journal is, the better your chances will be when challenging your employers Unfair Labor Practices (ULP). Keep your journal in your car and write down times, dates, names of potential witnesses, and any other detail you think would be helpful later, not while working. [ Download ] this printable template create by the Tulsa Industrial Workers of the World.

Fill Out Tax Forms - Being paid under the table sometimes can be really great, but it also means you are extremely vulnerable to being underpaid, or not paid at all. Without proof of employment, it’s your word against theirs. Following the above practices will help you in your case, but you should demand to be placed officially on the books.

Know Your Rights - Familiarize yourself with your rights and who you can call to file a complaint or ask for advice. Download [ http://richmondiww.org/files/2011/06/workersrights_june_2011A.pdf ]

Organize/Unionize - We stress that an organized workplace is the safest workplace. Not only can you safeguard yourself from wage theft, but also demand other changes that make your workplace experience more tolerable. A union is defined by two or more workers acting in concert with one another, and is protected by the government. To act as a union does not require a large organization or external leadership, only organized solidarity among fellow workers.

If you would like to learn how to organize your place of work, get in touch with your local Industrial Workers of the World organizer. The Richmond General Membership Branch of the IWW can be reached at www.richmondiww.org or 804-496-1568.

[ download ] this fact sheet and give it to your co-workers!

Abolish the Wage System!

Richmond, Virginia May Day 2012 — International Workers Day!

Richmond IWW — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:59:08 +0000

Design by: FW Bizhan Khodabandeh

Another May Day Poster in .PDF format: May Day 2012 Poster

May Day! Workers of the World Unite!

This is our day! International Workers Day! Our day to recognize and appreciate the social and economic achievements of the international labor movement. The struggle began in 1884 when the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions passed a resolution that would enact an eight-hour workday beginning on May 1, 1886. On May 4th, 1886 during a general strike for the eight hour day in Chicago, police fired on strikers and killed a dozen people in what has become known as the Haymarket Massacre. In 1890, Labor activists, Leftists, Socialists and Anarchists began celebrating May 1 as the International Worker’s Holiday to achieve “…the legal establishment of the 8-hour day, the class demands of the proletariat, and universal peace.”

With the specter of a market free of government regulation that reaches far beyond the familiar borders of the United States, there is a need, more than ever, for a labor movement that demands for the rights of working people, and holds accountable the government and corporations for the injustices that we are forced to endure at the mercy of the wealthy.

The Struggle Continues! We must Organize!

There is no time better than now! From the office worker in a business suit to the construction worker in coveralls, no one has been left untouched. Corporate greed permeates every aspect of our lives as workers are laid off without benefits and left to fight to save their homes from foreclosure. While the city becomes a destination for the suburban middle class, protections for lower income residents are virtually non existent. Urban planners are heralded for ushering new life, income and opportunities into the area, but they also inadvertently pave the way for gentrification and the displacement of those who depend on the proximity of jobs and public transportation to survive. Developers left unchecked by city government are threatening Public Housing residents with the prospect of becoming homeless. All the while, institutional racism continues to permeate our culture, with hate groups on the rise in both membership and influence. And despite the popular movement demanding health care for all, the decision has been handed over to the insurance companies.

The economy has reached an all time low and workers are left to fend for themselves with few solutions. Immigrant and migrant workers continue to be scapegoated drawing attention away from the role of corporations and the destabilizing effects of free trade agreements. Recognizing our similarities rather than differences, we are united around the core principle that we must link arms and fight back in the spirit of those that came before us in a true display of solidarity.

This May Day we wish to demonstrate the presence of a labor movement in Richmond that is ready to fight against the multitude of injustices in our communities. We wish to unite individuals, faith based groups, unions, students, teachers and progressive organizations who will stand in solidarity with one another, for economic & social justice, freedom, and equality! And overall, we wish to better define the overlapping issue of capitalism that exists at the root of all our working class woes.

A Schedule of Events Can Be Found Here: [ http://flyingbrickrva.wordpress.com/2012/04/14/rva-may-day-weekend-schedule-of-events/ ]

[Worker Testimonial #2] 3rd St. Diner Phone Blast for Lost Wages

Richmond IWW — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:00:48 +0000

This is a ‘worker testimonial’ from Keith P. in the campaign against ‘wage theft’ at 3rd St. Diner. If you worked for Mr. Polyaris and have a work story you would like to share? Please consider submitting your testimonial here: [ http://tinyurl.com/85ezo5g ]

To view the call to action visit [ http://richmondiww.org/2012/04/14/direct-action-demand-unpaid-wages-for-worker-at-3rd-st-diner/ ]

I was employed by the Pyliaris Corporation from 1991 to 2003. During most of that time I worked at 3rd St Diner as a cook. During those years, I saw countless numbers of employees deprived of wages that were rightfully and legally owed to them. The restaurant and nightclub industries have a high turnover rate and often employees who worked for Pyliaris for a short period of time would be unpaid if they were only owed a single paycheck. Waitresses would often not receive their minimum wage as required by law but would be forced to work for tips only. Employees who worked overtime would be deprived of overtime pay.

Pyliaris was able to get away with this because most of his employees were either naïve young people or persons with limited education or socioeconomic advantages and who were not expecting to be taken advantage of in this way. Consequently, they did not understand the necessity of documenting the number of hours worked, saving old paycheck stubs, etc. in case they needed to bring a complaint to the Department of Labor concerning unpaid wages. Therefore, most complaints against Pyliaris ended up being a matter of his word against theirs.

I generally avoided conflicts of this type as I had a positive working relationship with Mr. Pyliaris’ father and was therefore considered “hands off” regarding these kinds of labor practices. However, when Mr. Pyliaris father relocated to Greece towards the end of my tenure with the Pyliaris Corp. things began to change. At the time, I was a bouncer/manager at one of Mr. Pyliaris gentleman’s clubs, The Candy Bar, and I typically worked 80 hours a week. I accumulated a good number of overtime hours for which I was owed back pay at overtime rates but was never paid. Fortunately, I had long been aware of Pyliaris’ unethical and illegal labor practices and had fully documented the number of hours I had worked and what I was owed. I filed a complaint with both the federal and state departments of labor and Pyliaris was ordered to compensate me. Further, a general investigation of Pyliaris’ labor practices was conducted and Pyliaris was likewise ordered to go back and pay a good number of other former employees past wages that were owed to them. This investigation transpired in 2003.

Mr. Pyliaris had essentially made a career out of depriving employees of wages that are rightfully owed to them. I know of no one who has ever worked for Pyliaris who has not complained of this issue or been aware of it. Additionally, Pyliaris has engaged in the sexual harassment of female employees. I know of at least one former employee who filed a lawsuit over such a matter in the mid-1990s. Pyliaris has also been arrested on numerous occasions for gratuitous assaults of patrons of his establishments when an altercation has occurred and has even been imprisoned for such conduct on at least one occcasion. [click here]

Keith P.

[Worker Testimonial #1] 3rd St. Diner Phone Blast for Lost Wages

Richmond IWW — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 09:00:17 +0000

This is a ‘worker testimonial’ from Kendra N. in the campaign against ‘wage theft’ at 3rd St. Diner. If you worked for Mr. Polyaris and have a work story you would like to share? Please consider submitting your testimonial here: [ http://tinyurl.com/85ezo5g ]

To view the call to action visit [ http://richmondiww.org/2012/04/14/direct-action-demand-unpaid-wages-for-worker-at-3rd-st-diner/ ]

I was last hired at 3rd Street Diner in June of 2011. I responded to a Craigslist ad that had been posted for the diner needing a hostess, so I went in for an interview and was hired on the spot and started work the next day. Pay was discussed and I was told I would be making $7.25/hour (minimum wage for a hostess). I worked the late shift every night from 12-8 AM, and my job was to greet customers, hand out menus, make sure tables were clean, and work the cash register.

Many nights I was asked to come in early, and stay late, without a time sheet. Without a time sheet, it was my word against theirs, which obviously only could have one outcome at the time. After about a week or working, I was told by another manager that I wasn’t a hostess, and that I would need to start waiting tables. I talked to the hiring manager and again was told I was wrong even though I had the email from the details of the ad I responded to and the interview. He told me I must have been confused, and that the hostess position was for another club. My interview took place in the diner, so that was obviously not true.

After a week of work I collected my paycheck (late) on a Thursday. The amount on the check was roughly $130. At the bottom where the check should have been was a stub that read “THIS IS NOT A CHECK”. $80 of the check had been taken out for “taxes”, and another $35 for meals, when I had never even eaten food from there while I worked. The remainder of the check was subtracted for “tip outs”. I wasn’t working as a waitress, so this was especially surprising. I asked around a bit, because I was honestly confused by the check at first. I called and got the run-around too many times and was not given any answers. Later, I went back to 3rd street to ask about why I wasn’t being paid and I was being charged for things I shouldn’t have. Still no answer from any of the staff, so I filed a complaint with the Dept. of Labor but eventually lost my stub so it fell through.

3rd Street has a history of labor violations (sanitation, wages, hiring, and more) and I’m not the first person to have this problem. Many complaints have been filed but this is still continuing, let them know how you feel about this. Call, email, or go in person. [click here]

Kendra N.

DIRECT ACTION! Demand Unpaid Wages for Worker at 3rd St. Diner!

Richmond IWW — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 19:33:21 +0000

Richmond Industrial Workers of the World: IWW Food & Retail Workers United; Demand Unpaid Wages for Worker at 3rd St. Diner in Richmond, Virginia

On behalf of Fellow Worker Moriah “Mo” Karn, the Richmond General Membership Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World and IU640 (Restaurant, Hotel, & Building Service Workers Industrial Union) are initiating a campaign to demand that $183.18 ($2.13 p/h x 86 hours) in unpaid wages be paid in full to fellow worker Karn.

Fellow worker Karn worked as a bartender and waitstaff for 3rd St. Diner located at 218 E. Main St. in Richmond, Virginia. Karn has yet to receive any compensation for their labor after working a total of 86 hours at a wage of $2.13 an hour, between November 3rd and November 22nd, 2011.

Although in the state of Virginia, it is a violation of law to withhold a final paycheck from an employee after removal (see §40.1-29 Va State Code), the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry was of little help. When fellow worker Karn filed a complaint with the Virginia Department of Labor, they were told that because there was no written proof of their hours worked, ie. a time sheet, schedule, etc., and because the employer failed to process their W2 form, there was nothing the Department of Labor could do for them.

In lieu of this news, on Friday April 6, 2012 a letter was issued to owner, Mr. William “Billy” Polyaris, requesting he do the right thing and pay fellow worker Karn in full by 4:00pm Friday April 12, 2012. Informing him that failure to do so would result in further action. We received no response.

Whereas the inability of the state to procure justice for workers who are victims of wage theft, and whereas Mr. Polyaris appears to have no remorse for the exploitation of his workers, we call upon supporters to participate in a phone blast, putting pressure on management and demanding retribution and accountability for Karn and her fellow workers.

Please call the following numbers:

Mr. William “Billy” Polyaris(804)218 2204 (text him!)
3rd St. Diner (24 hours) (804) 788-4750

Sample Script: (first ask to speak with the manger) Hello, my name is _________ and I’m calling with support for Mo Karn in demanding that they be paid in full, $183.18 in stolen wages ($2.13 p/h x 86 hours). The working people will not tolerate wage theft by any employer, large or small. Furthermore we demand that you begin providing tipped employees’ with a minimum wage of $7.25 and hour, free shift meals, and that accountability in the form of time sheets be issued to all employee’s at the end of every pay period.

Mr. Polyaris is also co/owner of several “Gentleman’s Clubs” open between 11am & 2am on any given day, except Sunday 7pm – 2am:

Daddy Rabbits (804)232.0413
Candy Bar (804)232.5176
Old Dominion Club (804)643.0636
Club Rouge (804)643.2687
End Zone Gentleman’s Club (804)458.2232

[ READ ] some of the workplace stories we have collected from former employee’s of Mr. Polyaris. Have you worked for Mr. Polyaris and have a work story you would like to share? Please consider submitting your testimonial here: [ http://tinyurl.com/85ezo5g ]

Some Facts About Tipped-Employees’

The Federal Minimum Wage was last raised in 2009 from $6.55 an hour to $7.25 an hour in July, 2009. Some states (not Virginia) have raised the minimum wage, however there hasn’t been any legislation to raise the Federal Minimum Wage for tipped employee’s since 1991.

Originally, the federal tipped worker minimum wage was 60% of the full minimum wage. However, it was frozen at just $2.13 per hour in 1991. Because it has not been increased at all in the decades since then, it has plummeted in value to less than 30% of the minimum wage.(1)

Many states provide stronger protections for tipped workers by requiring that tipped workers be paid above the federal rate. Illinois guarantees tipped workers 60% of the minimum wage. In New York and Connecticut it’s approximately 70%. And Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington guarantee tipped workers the full minimum wage – a best practice that has successfully reduced poverty among tipped workers in those states.(2) Why can’t Virginia become one of those states?

According to the National Restaurant Association, 1 in 10 working Americans nationally work in restaurants which collectively register sales exceeding $600 billion. Virginia restaurants employ over 342,200 people, and were projected to register $12.8 billion in sales. Restaurant jobs represent 9% of employment in Virginia.

Richmond Industrial Workers of the World | www.richmondiww.org | 804-496-1568

May Day 2012! Get Ready Richmond, Virginia — Get Ready World!

Richmond IWW — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 23:22:56 +0000

Design by: FW Bizhan Khodabandeh

Richmond IWW endorses UVA Living Wage Campaign

Richmond IWW — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 17:19:25 +0000

The Richmond Industrial Workers of the World endorsed a recent open letter addressed to President Sullivan and the University of Virginia Board of Visitors in support of the UVA Living Wage Campaign.

The Richmond, Virginia Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World would like to extend our hand in solidarity to the UVA Living Wage Campaign and the working people at the University of Virginia. We are all here today because we recognize that conditions can be changed, and the interest of the working class upheld only by an organization formed in such a way that all it’s members, students, faculty, and workers, in any one industry, or in all industries if necessary, participate in a concerted direct action with one another, thus making an injury to one an injury to all! Together we will win dignity and respect for the working class! Solidarity, and a state wide living wage for all!

Dear President Sullivan and University of Virginia Board of Visitors:

We, the undersigned, write to you today to express our commitment to economic justice and to call on you to act.

We are individuals and organizations who have great concern for the well being of the people who live and work in our community, particularly in Charlottesville and Albemarle County. We share a commitment to economic justice and to equity in our communities. Collectively, the organizations we represent have thousands of members.

As the area’s largest employer, the University of Virginia has a responsibility — indeed, an obligation — to improve our community.

We believe that the University has neglected this obligation and continues to do so. We call on you to take action by finally resolving the issue of living wages at the University in a fair, satisfying, and comprehensive way. We call on you to take this action now.

As you surely recognize, the University affects the cost of living in Charlottesville in major ways, particularly with respect to housing costs. We believe that the University could offset the negative impacts of its increasing these costs for some of our community’s most vulnerable members by paying its employees enough to meet the cost of living.

We remind you that in 2000 the University committed to a base pay increase for direct employees, and that we commended you for doing so.

That increase, however, did not include cost of living adjustments, nor did it include contracted employees. We had hoped that these issues would be addressed in a timely manner — certainly by now, a dozen years later.

During that period, the Living Wage Campaign, currently configured as Workers And Students United, repeatedly presented its scrupulous research and stated its case with deep respect for administrative process. Concurrently, we in the community have stood with workers, students, and faculty. We have called on you to listen to their concerns, rallied, written letters, and requested meetings. In good faith, all of us have asked for commitments from you. The arguments have now been presented, the necessity and practicality of action proven.

Overall, it must be said, we have not been satisfied with the University’s response. Frankly, at times we have even been disappointed by the dismissive tone of University communications. Such feelings, however, are fleeting compared with the enduring nature of the issues at stake. And like those issues, the Living Wage Campaign will not go away — that is, until those issues are resolved in a fair, satisfying, and comprehensive manner.

The time for straight answers and firm commitments is here. The University of Virginia needs to pay a living wage to all of its employees. We believe that the University has the potential to be a powerful force for positive change in our community. To further this end, we call for:

A living wage of no less than $13.00 per hour as the base pay for all direct employees;

cost of living adjustments that are automatic and annual;

all contracts with University service providers to include a living wage and cost of living adjustments.

We stand with Workers And Students United and fully support their demands as presented on February 8, 2012 and will stand with them on February 17, 2012 and beyond if a commitment is not made to ensure a living wage, safe working conditions, and job security for all workers by that date.

As always, workers, students, faculty, and community are standing united in our call for a living wage. We are present, we are showing up, and we are taking the steps necessary to gain equity and economic justice in our community through the establishment of a living wage for all workers at the University of Virginia.

Respectfully,

Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP
Virginia Organizing
Legal Aid Justice Center
Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice
Public Housing Association of Residents
Campus Workers United
Wayside Center for Popular Education
Cville Workers Action Network
Socialist Party of Central Virginia
Richmond General Membership Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World
Joyful Dissent
Kristin Szakos- Vice-Mayor City of Charlottesville
David Swanson- founder WarIsACrime.org, author, blogger
M. Rick Turner- president Albemarle-Charlottesville NAACP
Brenda Lambert- Community Activist Jim Shea- Community Activist

View the UVA Living Wage Campaigns point-by-point response to the Presidents response to the community letter [here].

Pizza Hut Union US Solidarity!

x374242 — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:33:15 +0000

As many of you know there is an action in Sheffield UK today (protest and phone blast) for Pizza Hut Workers Union from the Steel City Wobs. If you don’t know about it, learn more here.

What you may not know is that more pizza is sold on Super Bowl Sunday (Feb 5th 2012) than almost any other day in the US. This Superbowl Sunday I plan to call my local Pizza Hut and ask to speak with a manager. I will let them know that I will NOT be ordering pizza from Pizza Hut because I stand in solidarity with workers in Sheffield and all over the world who deserve and demand to be treated with worth and dignity in their workplace! And as long as the management of the Sheffield branches ignore the concerns and value of their employees I will not be ordering Pizza Hut pizza at all and I will encourage my friends to do the same!

I know this is short notice but there is ALWAYS time for solidarity!

Join me in telling Pizza Hut that workers all over the world deserve to be treated with dignity and respect in the workplace. Spread this solidarity action far and wide! Tell your friends!

Call your local Pizza Hut and ask to speak with a manager OR click this link to submit online feedback.

Tell them:
-I will not be ordering pizza from Pizza Hut this Superbowl Sunday or any day until Pizza Hut recognizes and addresses the concerns and negotiations of fellow workers in Sheffield UK.

-I will encourage my friends and fellow workers to do the same!

-Pizza Hut Workers in Sheffield and all over the world deserve overtime pay for working bank/federal holidays.

-Pizza Hut Workers in Sheffield and all over the world deserve to fully reimbursed for mileage/fuel when using a personal vehicle for work purposes.

-Pizza Hut Workers in Sheffield and all over the world deserve a living wage and regular cost-of-living wage increases commiserate with inflation.

-Pizza Hut workers in Sheffield and all over the world are entitled to collective bargaining to improve their working conditions!

Educate! Organize! Emancipate!

Richmond IWW — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:28:49 +0000

What is the Work People’s College? From 1921 until it’s closure in 1941, the Work People’s College trained hundreds of workers on tactics of the class struggle, nourishing a tradition of working class radicalism in Minnesota that lives on today.

In 2006, the Twin Cities IWW (aka Minneapolis & St. Paul IWW) began reviving the Work People’s College with a series of workshops, one-day educationals, and presentations.

While we are on the cusp of being a truly great force in the labor movement again, there are still some important challenges to overcome. Many Wobblies have gone through the Organizer Training 101 and those training’s have been instrumental in advancing the struggle for One Big Union. But still, too many organizing drives are falling short because beating a boss takes so much more than just the skills found in the 101 training.

Training workers in those additional skills is what the IWW Work People’s College is all about. Debuting this summer with an intensive six-day program in Minnesota, the Work People’s College will offer Wobbly organizers top-notch trainings in an array of critical tools including formulating a winning campaign strategy, developing member leadership, conducting research & intelligence gathering, and Labor Law 102, to name just a few of the many courses being offered. After the College, a group of highly-skilled Wobblies will return to their branches and their industries to share and implement what they’ve learned and meaningfully increase the power of our labor union.

Check out the curriculum! [ HERE ]

The Richmond IWW is fundraising to help send fellow workers from the Richmond General Membership Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World [www.richmondiww.org ] to the Work People’s College.

Members of the Richmond Industrial Workers of the World are building a radical labor movement in Virginia. Membership is growing, and we’ve been engaging working class people through various campaigns through out Virginia, and in each campaign we strive to increase class consciousness.

We are engaging workers on the shop floor and challenging the boss class, organizing with the Richmond Transit Riders Union for transportation equality, housing justice with Residents of Public Housing in Richmond Against Mass Eviction (RePHRAME), and against gentrification and food deserts through Sustainable East End Development in Church Hill(SEED-CH).

Those are a lot of different issues right? Not all of them take place in the work place, however they all involve working people, and these working people are working together to solve problems in their community the same way one would do in the work place. These are worker driven movements with a lot of inter-connectivity, and at the root of all these concerns lies the enemy, capitalism. A system which inherently feeds off the exploitation of the working class.

If you would like to support the work we do towards the organization of the working class on the shop floor, the abolition of the wage system and with it the capitalist system, please help us continue in the education of fellow workers within our union and our community. Please consider donating any amount to the Work People’s College Fund. Our goal is $1,500 by May 15, 2012

How do I donate?

We are a 501c5 Non-Profit Organization, so your donations will not be tax-deductable, sorry. However you can still send a donation online through the “donate” button at the top right hand corner of [ www.richmondiww.org ] or by sending well concealed cash / check / money order to:

Richmond IWW c/o WPC
PO BOX 7055
Richmond, Virginia 23221

The Big Red Cookbook is coming!

x374242 — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 16:38:37 +0000

We are building a cookbook for our community. Please submit a recipe using the link below.

We want to develop a collection of recipes that fuel radical movements! We want only your most delicious, beloved, tried and true recipes because we want this anthology of deliciousness to fuel the fire!

Learn more about the Big Red Cookbook here.

Submit a recipe to the Big Red Cookbook.