Ah, Hell, I Got Drunk Last Night
Ah, Hell, I Got Drunk Last Night
In my defense, I live in the most chaotic neighborhood in Columbus.
The worst part about my brand is when I drink too much Tito’s Handmade Vodka and “forget” to do my work. Next thing I know, there’s a beautiful woman in my bed and my phone is flooded with a bunch of well-wishers who are concerned that I’m either dead or in jail.
My addictions won’t stop me from delivering the news. As the saying goes, “A Marionaire may be late but they always deliver the news.”
Today’s topic is wage theft. Apparently the hobgoblins that were appointed to power by the local political machine will convene tonight to discuss if cracking down on wage theft is a good idea. This would be a heartwarming story if only the notoriously progressive oasis of Cincinnati hadn’t installed similar legislation 25 years ago.
Very cool how getting high on drugs and knocking over a corner store for $80 can land you in a state penitentiary for 15 years while workers lose $15 billion a year.
My ranting might make me seem like just another communist who drank too much vodka and went off the deep end. (I wouldn’t be the first.) The problem is this wage theft is an underreported crisis.
From policymattersohio.com in 2019:
Wage theft is a serious and underreported problem. The National Employment Law Project estimates that wage theft accounts for some $15 billion in nationwide losses each year and exceeds losses from shoplifting.[1] What’s worse, wage theft most often harms poor workers who are both most dependent on their wages to survive, and most likely to face harsh consequences for speaking out. In Ohio, an estimated 217,000 workers face wage theft each year through minimum wage violations alone.[2] Six wage and hour agents monitor labor practices for over 5.5 million workers on a budget that shrinks with each budget cycle while the state legislature looks the other way.
Wage theft persists in Ohio because enforcement is lax. Too few resources are spent on wage and hour investigators, and employers face too few consequences when caught. The state should add at least $1 million to the Bureau of Wage and hour this budget cycle to add to its six current staff and enable a strategic enforcement approach. And Ohio should discontinue its practice of foregoing treble damages for first-offenses.
Until the state legislature begins treating wage theft with the severity it deserves, cities can take steps to prevent wage theft within their jurisdictions. Cincinnati passed a wage enforcement ordinance in 2016,[3] directing the city to take all possible action to recover incentives given to business if those businesses, contractors, or subcontractors violated wage laws. The ordinance strengthened oversight of incentivized projects and asserted the city’s commitment to workers and law- abiding businesses. These changes are making a difference in Cincinnati. Columbus should be the second Ohio city to take on this challenge.
The best advocates for America’s socialist future are greedy capitalist goons who simply can’t help themselves. Don’t take it from me. Take it from the dipshit son of our criminal president who advocated for a capitalist scheme that saw his dad’s second campaign manager indicted on federal charges:
Wow! I’m starting to think our president and his entire family are involved in a criminal syndicate that didn’t draw the attention of tax authorities until the family patriarch became the most powerful person in the free world.
Let’s table thought for a moment and return to what the Columbus City Council wants to do for everyday working people.
From Bill Bush of dispatch.com:
The Columbus City Council is poised to turn up the heat on employers who engage in “wage theft” from their employees, such as failing to pay minimum wage, the prevailing wage or overtime, or misclassifying workers as independent contractors.
Violating employers could be barred from doing business with the city for up to four years, lose city incentives — including tax abatements — and lose building permits and city commercial licenses.
The ordinance, expected to be voted on next month, would not affect businesses that have no contractual ties or permitting involvement with the city, said council member Rob Dorans, the legislation’s sponsor.
But any employers that request, bid for, apply for or receive from the city any financial incentive, contract, building permit, commercial license, business permit or vendor registration would be subject to the ordinance.
“Frankly, we’re pushing back against the ocean right now against this kind of abuse,” said Dorans, who is also the chief legal counsel for Affiliated Construction Trades of Ohio, a union-affiliated nonprofit agency that advocates on behalf of workers in the construction industry. His work at ACT Ohio has recovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in back wages for workers defrauded by their employers.
First of all, it’s embarrassing we don’t already have something like this. Second of all, Rob Dorans is talking a lot like a guy who follows me on Twitter. I’m almost ready to forget he was appointed by the local political machine like every other council member in this godforsaken city.
In my perfect world, every business in my jurisdiction would provide payroll to the city so we could protect workers from the indignity of having their wages stolen from them. Sadly, I don’t live in utopia; I live in Columbus. I have no other option than to accept the baby steps as they’re doled out to me.
THOSE WMDs. The furious hunt for the MAGA Bomber… Two dozen “old Post Boxes” just appeared on Cleveland Craigslist then disappeared… What I learned about myself after tallying the bodycount on Ozark’s first season… The tongue tie conundrum… Two cast iron tips for beginners.