Posted on 10/07/2023
ONE BIG THING: WAGE THEFT, BY THE NUMBERS
This week, our motions to strengthen wage theft enforcement were approved by City Council.
Right now, the city is unable to enforce most laws around wage theft, since prosecution is left up to the State government, where the agencies in charge of this issue are severely under-resourced. Moreover, by not enforcing these violations, we create a culture where companies feel encouraged to take advantage of their workers. Our motion would empower the city to go after these unscrupulous employers, returning billions of dollars of hard-earned money to LA families.
- Angelenos lose $1.4 billion each year in stolen wages – that’s $27 million every week.
- 88% of all low-wage workers in Los Angeles County experience wage theft.
- For low-wage Angelenos, stolen wages add up to an estimated 12.5% annual pay lost to wage theft.
- Los Angeles is the wage theft capital of the nation, with 20% more lost wages than cities like New York and Chicago.
- Immigrant workers, women, and people of color are all disproportionately victimized.
We cannot talk about our homelessness and housing affordability crises without talking about the core issues of why LA families are living in poverty in the first place.
Now that our motions passed through City Council, the City Attorney will write ordinances (essentially the actual laws on the books), and those ordinances will come back to council for a final vote. Stay tuned for that!
Three More Quick Hits!
1. The First State of CA Historical Landmark Honoring LGBTQ+ History
On Sunday, we went to the Black Cat in Silver Lake for the opening of the state of California’s very first Historic Landmark dedicated to LGBTQ+ History.
In 1967, two years before Stonewall, the Black Cat was home to the first organized LGBT demonstration in the US to protest police persecution of the LGBT community. We were so honored to join one of the organizers of that original protest, Alexei Romanoff, for the unveiling of this new landmark that you can see for yourself at the corner of Sunset and Hyperion.
2. Celebrating Filipino-American History Month
October is Filipino-American History Month, so this week, we brought Filipino organizations and community leaders into City Hall to recognize the extraordinary contributions of the Filipino community to Los Angeles and the state of California.
So often, the history of Filipino Americans is overlooked, but from Larry Itliong, one of the fathers of the West Coast labor movement, to the Filipino nurses who make up the backbone of our healthcare system, to their incredible food and culture, it’s so important to recognize the Filipino community not just this month, but all year round.
2. Community Resource Fair Next Saturday (10/14) in Historic Filipinotown
Don’t forget to mark your calendars for our next Community Resource Fair next Saturday, 10/14 from 10am-2pm at Rosemont Ave Elementary!
From a costume contest, to food giveaways, to resources from community groups and our city government– this resource fair will have it all. We can’t wait to see you there!
Meet the CD13 Team!
We’re thrilled to welcome our office’s new Planning Deputy, Ted Walker!
Ted comes to our office with a background in land use and policy issues, and he recently finished a Master’s in Urban Planning at USC.
As part of the Community Development & Planning team, Ted will help monitor the creation and maintenance of affordable housing in CD13 while helping to prevent displacement and transform our relationship between land use, pedestrian infrastructure, and public transportation here in LA.