Bobo's Blueprint for Boosting Economic JusticeRandy Shawbyline‚ Jan. 08‚ 2009Overlooked amidst tales of corporate wrongdoing, stock swindles and Madoff-like investment fraud is the fact that millions of American workers are not getting paid by their employers. Since the vast majority are low-income, this pervasive wage theft fosters economic inequality and prevents people from making ends meet. To help end this profound injustice, Kim Bobo, co-author of the classic Organizing for Social Change, has released Wage Theft in America, which provides a specific blueprint for accomplishing this goal. Bobo notes that the number of Department of Labor staff investigating Wage and Hour violations has decreased by more than 50% since the agency began in 1941, while the number of affected workers has increased by 900%. Her book is a clarion call for the Obama Administration to address this staffing shortage, so that the government fulfills its duty to protect workers wages. With workers advocate Hilda Solis soon to be heading the Labor Department, Bobo’s book could not be more timely; she has given Solis and the public a step by step roadmap for boosting economic justice among the working poor. |