The Wage Theft Prevention Act: A Matter of Crime and Politics and Religion...Oh My!

One of the most heated debates out there right now is the one regarding the Wage Theft Prevention Act. According to AFL-CIO,wage theft "generally refers to employees being denied full compensation for their work under the law. Often...victims of wage theft...are denied meal breaks, overtime pay and minimum wage and are forced to work off the clock without pay. It is illegal to not pay or to underpay workers their wages." This growing issue is more than just a matter of the law, however, as it not only incriminates American businesses but it also initiates political and religious controversy. The fact that Michigan is one of the states at the center of this debate exposes the political nature of this debate. Though somewhat moderate, Michigan tends to lean more towards the liberal side of the political spectrum, and it shows in this wage theft controversy. Liberals strongly believe in the government having a responsibility to regulate businesses in order to protect laborers from the greed of business owners and corporations. The corporation: McDonald's. The greed: McDonald's trying to force their employees to clock in once the first customer arrives no matter how long they spend there beforehand, thus leaving them with time unpaid. The laborers needing protection: McDonald's employees like Jason Hughes whose story was focused on in a Think Progress article recently and who was one of many victims of wage theft. In the same article, it was said that there have been workers in Michigan filing suits against McDonald's for wage theft. Why does Michigan seem to be one of the first states to take action against these alleged crimes committed by McDonald's among other corporations? The answer is simple: the state is full of liberals who abhor this kind of treatment. This issue is considered illegal, and thus a crime. But what makes this crime so newsworthy that it is now a prominent subject of controversy in the controversy-filled United States? According to Jack Katz and his analysis that yielded the four criteria that makes crime news - the four criteria being (1) personal competence and sensibility, (2) collective integrity, (3) moralized political conflicts, and (4) white-collar crime - this crime and the reason why it is newsworthy would fall under the category of it being a white collar crime. The fact that the elite business owners with all the cash are trying to steal labor from their workers make people question not only the elite in question but all high and mighty businessmen that may try and get away with the same thing. The framing of this crime as white collar crime exacerbates what critics have deemed class warfare in that it tries to stir up peoples' emotions. It tries to gain sympathy for the laborers who are oppressed by the unjust elite while establishing a hatred and disgust with these unjust elite. Anyone can make an argument, but what data do these liberal groups have to support their argument that wage theft is a crime that should be put to a stop? One of the major pieces of objective data that those fighting wage theft have on their side is the money - the big bucks that the greedy corporations are pocketing by cheating their workers out of their pay. For example, in a Salon article that condemned the greedy businesses for wage theft, a statistic from a liberal organization was used that indicated that wage theft has annually stolen approximately $600 million dollars from workers in Iowa alone. Another objective fact of relevance used for arguments against wage theft is the people oppressed by wage theft in numbers. For example, in an article on The Nation website, the author used a study that yielded results that 84% of the 500 New York laborers surveyed claimed their employers had committed acts of wage theft against them. The opponents of wage theft definitely took advantage of the substantial numbers found in these pieces of objective data. These opponents of wage theft know not only what's the toolbox but also how to use the tools. They are not just taking their protest to the streets while utilizing the objective data in this controversy. They are bringing this protest to one of the most prominent platforms of the 21st century: social media. For example, Twitter is home to several pages that are all about fighting wage theft: see @FightWageTheft, @DownwWageTheft, @WeAreOregon, etc. Facebook is home to these organizations opposed to wage theft among others as well. Social media is yet another tool utilized by these wage theft fighters. Now, look at the matter of wage theft from a religious standpoint - specifically, from a Catholic point of view. What does the Catholic Church have to say about wage theft? Does it stand with the laborers or the corporations? As seen on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catholic Church always stands with the poor and works for justice, which ties Catholic social teaching to the laborers' side in that the laborers are the poor and the justice Catholics would work for in regard to the poor laborers would be that they are paid fairly rather than cheated for their labor by the unjust companies they work for. The Catholic Church's stance against wage theft is also seen in Pope John Paul II’s “Laborem Exercens”, especially when he says, "the Church considers it her task always to call attention to the dignity and rights of those who work...[and] to condemn situations in which that dignity and those rights are violated". This statement reveals that the Pope, leader of the universal Catholic Church on earth, calls all members of the Catholic Church to condemn crimes like wage theft that take away the rights of laborers. What is wage theft? Is it just a crime? No. Is it just a political controversy? No. Is it just a religious controversy? No again. What wage theft truly is at its heart is an integration of these three things, making it one of the most heated debates of modern America.