No Justice! No Peace!
For nearly two years, the Carpenters union has tried to educate school administration about the issues of wage theft in the construction industry. At “rolling rallies” and with leaflets and banners, members are warning Tufts that ignoring these issues is essentially inviting them to campus.
Our warnings were warranted. Worker exploitation is happening at Tufts. Workers on the Tufts residence hall project were promised $23/hour in wages but only paid $20/hour. These same workers were paid under the table, in case with no overtime payment for work done on Saturdays. There are no pay stubs. Workers are now reporting that they haven’t been paid for hours worked and are still owed wages.
Wage theft is a crime and it’s happening on campus. When employers pay workers in cash and don’t report it, they cheat the government and the public. When companies misclassify workers and or don’t carry proper insurance, not only do they break the law, but they put workers at risk.
Wage theft is more common than armed robbery in our country and three times as costly to the economy. Here in Massachusetts, wage theft costs individual workers more than $1 billion a year in earned wages. This hurts our communities and all the state’s taxpayers. Institutions like Tufts, who hold tremendous wealth and have significant resources at their disposal, can avoid contributing to wage, if they choose. We hope they will.
Tufts has the power to demand accountability. We are calling on Tufts University to adopt meaningful Responsible Contracting Standards for construction on its campus. Requiring responsible contractors will ensure that all workers are treated fairly.