DOL Gains Another Workers' Rights Advocate

by Leigh Graham · 2009-03-29 11:22:00 UTC
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M. Patricia Smith, NY's Labor Commissioner, has been appointed Solicitor at the U.S. Department of Labor, the #3 job.  Smith has an excellent and earned reputation "as one of the nation’s foremost labor commissioners because of her vigorous efforts to crack down on minimum wage and overtime violations at businesses including restaurants, supermarkets, car washes and racetracks."

She's successfully won more than $20M in back pay for low-wage workers, incl. what she estimates to be the largest ever single settlment, $2.3M against Ollie's Noodle Shop and Grill in Manhattan, on behalf of mostly immigrant Asian workers.  Her agency has organized large sweeps of industries known for wage and hour violations, and she also created a unique public-private partnership, the "New York Wage and Hour Watch, modeled after crime-fighting neighborhood watch groups, in which community organizations, immigrant groups and labor unions will help serve as the department’s eyes and ears to report violations. In addition, those groups will help educate local employers on what they need to do to comply with the law."

Smith, working under Commissioner Solis, is another terrific addition to DOL.  Here's hoping the Obama Administration gives the agency the power and support it needs for more workers' rights efforts like this.

(And don't forget to support the Employee Free Choice Act!)

Leigh Graham
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