The Justice

Media Credit: Michelle Strulovic Kim Bobo spoke about her book on wage theft last Wednesday.

Kim Bobo, founder of Interfaith Worker Justice, columnist for Religion Dispatches and author of several books, spoke about her new book and contextualized her ideas within Justice Louis Brandeis' life as part of an event sponsored by the Louis D. Brandeis Legacy Fund for Social Justice last Wednesday.

Bobo's book is called Wage Theft in America: Why Millions of Working Americans Are Not Getting Paid-And What We Can Do About It. Several other Brandeis Departments and clubs including the Brandeis Chaplaincy and the Legal Studies Program sponsored the event.

Bobo began her discussion by explaining the term "Wage theft," which she says encompasses several actions employers take which, include paying minimum wage, not paying overtime, misclassifying workers, withholding tips, withholding the last paycheck and failing to pay workers at all.

Bobo explained that "Wage theft occurs because of greed left unchecked by pushbacks," meaning unions, ethical business and the Department of Labor.

"Three million people in this country are paid below minimum wage Walmart alone, one of the country's largest employers, has $300-600 million in unpaid overtime to its workers," Bobo said.

Bobo used a biblical story to convey that wage theft has occurred for centuries. "Deuteronomy 24, verses 14 and 15 say 'Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is an Israelite or is a foreigner residing in one of your towns." she said.

Bobo added that even today the majority of people who suffer wage theft are the working class-people who really count on their paychecks.

Bobo spoke about how Brandeis and his close friend Sam Warren set up a corporate law firm in Boston after Brandeis served in the U.S. Supreme Court. "When questioned about his actions, Brandeis said, 'I feel that lawyers must come out of the courtroom sometimes, if they see the law obeyed or implemented in the streets. They'll see Law and life are not separate," she said.

The lecture concluded as Bobo discussed the five things Brandeis students can do to help the wage theft epidemic. These included working to create a just society, talking about wage theft with workers, helping the development of unions and using money wisely.

In an interview with the Justice, Bobo said, "The most important thing to remember is that wage theft happens all around you. Three people in this room have told me stories about their personal wage theft, [so] it's not just an idea; it's a reality."

Dmitriy Kozlov '11 said, "I'm really big into entrepreneurship and I had no idea about all the problems there are with wages and corporations."

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