Special To The Journal
Monday night The Revere City Council passed a Wage Theft Prevention ordinance submitted by Councilors-at-Large Steven Morabito and Jessica Giannino. The new ordinance will put policies in place to deter wage theft.
Councilor Morabito issued the following statement:
Thank you to my colleagues on the City Council for supporting this ordinance I submitted, by unanimously voting favorably for the ordinance.
Also, thank you, Councillor Giannino, for collaborating and co-sponsoring this ordinance with me.
Every Revere resident is at risk for wage theft. This type of theft is the illegal practice of not paying workers with wages or benefits that are rightfully owed to an employee. This occurs when employees are not properly paid for all work performed, when an employee is paid less than prevailing wage, when an employer intentionally misclassifies an employee, or when employers refuse employees overtime compensation. Wage theft is covered under the Massachusetts Fair Labor Standards Act and under Federal Law.
A Wage Theft Prevention ordinance will establish wage theft prevention regulations in the City of Revere. This will set the required standard in regard to all bids and proposals for the provision and delivery of services within the city. This will apply to every new contract and every renewal term of contract after July 1st 2021.
This ordinance will also protect our city’s capital and lessen its liability, by not doing business and not paying prospective contractors and vendors found in violation of these Fair Labor Laws. Our distribution of city funds and taxpayer dollars should never support unethical, and unlawful employers that manipulate and treat employees unfairly.
Going forward, this city ordinance will help law-abiding and honest businesses wanting to do business with our city, by not having to compete with dishonest and unlawful businesses and contractors who typically can take part in the public bid process for city work.
Wage theft disproportionately impacts women, people of color and those foreign-born, looking to make it in our great country, called America (as my mom and dad did when they came here from Italy).
Also, wage theft commonly affects industries that are labor-intensive and pay by hour. It impacts workers in construction, agriculture, restaurant, janitorial, supermarket, hospitality and retail industries.
Our city is filled with hard-working people, therefore it is only right to put Wage Theft Prevention Policies in place that encourages fair labor, deters wage theft, helps honest businesses, and protects workers’ rights, city capital and taxpayer dollars.
