Quote of the Day, July 12, 2012
More than 25,000 low wage temporary workers labor each day in Massachusetts. Many are deployed to work in hazardous jobs such as residential construction, landscaping, fish and meat processing, recycling centers, rock cutting, warehousing, cranberry harvesting, demolition, waste hauling, and janitorial services.
“There are a lot of temp workers in this area that depend on these jobs to support their families,” said Evelyn Sanchez, a temp worker who testified at the hearing. She noted how the industry-wide practice of providing little to no documentation to workers has resulted in employers lying about how much the job will pay and how long the work day will be. “I have been picked up at 2 pm, traveled [sic] 1-2 hours without paid and got home at 2 in the morning for $48 including $7 for the ride every day,” she said, the equivalent of four dollars an hour.
– an excerpt from a Massachusetts AFL-CIO article on a hearing at the Massachusetts State House on the widespread wage and tax fraud taking place in the unregulated temporary industry.
Stay tuned for an upcoming EHRP piece on temporary agencies. EHRP writer Gabe Thompson goes undercover to discover what really happens to workers who must utilize temporary agencies when permanent work is scarce.
