The lead story on WBUR's website today details the case 38-year old Jose Flores and his family. After being severely injured on a job site, where the employer didn't have worker's compensation insurance, the employer setup a meeting with the worker and ICE was waiting for the worker when he exited the meeting. The worker, still recovering from his injuries, is in detention awaiting deportation.
Listen to, or read, the WBUR's coverage here. Metrowest Worker Center assisting the worker and his family. Please consider a donation to our crowd funding campaign and help us spread the word: UPDATE 5/22/2017: José Flores was released to his family for deferred action due to pressure from Metrowest Worker Center, MassCOSH, and other members of the Immigrant Worker Center Collaborative and legal allies. Details and next steps here. "A wage theft bill is back before the Massachusetts Legislature this session, looking to crack down on [wage theft] cases. It would give the state attorney general greater authority to hold companies accountable by providing the ability to sue lead contractors for civil damages for wage theft violations committed by their subcontractors. It would also give the attorney general the authority to shut down work sites until such violations are corrected."
Read the full article on Telegram.com. "Boston-area legal advocates warn that the Trump administration’s new crackdown on illegal immigration will have the additional consequence of giving more power to employers who underpay undocumented workers and subject them to unsafe conditions."
Read the full article on the Boston Globe website. "Luis Mayancela was 15 years old when he fell from the roof of a house in Portland, Maine, where he was helping fasten shingles. He tumbled two stories, severely breaking his leg.
"His employer did not call an ambulance. Instead, a co-worker drove the Brockton High School freshman 75 miles in an old work van, across state lines, to a hospital in Massachusetts. As they crawled through rush-hour traffic, Mayancela had no idea his boss would try to dodge responsibility for the accident." Find out what happened next to Mayancela and more about how his situation is far from an isolated case in Massachusetts. Diego Low, director of the Metrowest Worker Center, is quoted in the article. Read the full article on the Boston Globe website. An article in the Providence Journal about the work we're doing with Fuerza Laboral regarding wage theft.
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