In Recession, Fearful Workers Keep Quiet About Exploitation

Undocumented (or documented) immigrant workers being exploited at work is sadly nothing new.  But in today's economy, many of the workers who previously might have spoken up about workplace abuse or exploitation are now keeping their heads down and their lips shut for fear of losing their jobs.

New America Media tells the story of Clemente Rodriguez, a documented immigrant who works 14 hour days in a shoe store in New York City.  Despite the fact that New York just raised their minimum wage from $7.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour, Clemente only get $35 a day for his work.  He should be making at least $101.50.

Clemente, like many other migrant and immigrant workers, is being exploited by his employer.  And now he's got a tough choice to make: file a legal complaint and risk losing a job he can't replace or suck it up and take the exploitation.  Clemente's thoughts are,

I know that it is important and it will help us someday. It is good for the government's record, but not for my family.  If I don't have a job, what will happen now? I think it's still better to have a small income, overcome my hardships, and make sure that I'll bring food to our table.

Clemente's specific case may not legally rise to the level of human trafficking since he is free to leave his job, though, arguably has no other reasonable options.  However, one technique traffickers use to keep workers enslaved is to pay them something small instead of stealing all their wages.  Especially in times of recession like this one when employment can be extremely hard to come by, workers like Clemente might decide that $2.50 an hour is better than nothing.

Think about what you would put up with to keep your current job in this economy.  Would you take a cut in pay or benefits? Would you put up with your boss grabbing your ass or making lewd comments?  Could you handle being paid less than is legal?

Now think about what someone who is truly desperate to keep a job would put up with in order to feed his or her family and stay in the U.S.  Wage theft? Sexual assault or rape? Slavery?

It's a tough market for everyone, but even tougher for those who must keep their current job at any cost, no matter how terrible.

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