- Social:
UCLA Labor Center
An attorney, she's Legal and Policy Research Manager at the UCLA Labor Center
PROFILE
Tia Koonse
Guest
FROM Tia Koonse
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
The Underground Economy and the Minimum Wage The Los Angeles City Council is debating today whether to increase the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by the year 2020 -- considerably higher than either the state or federal requirement. We commonly think of people making the minimum wage as the lowest paid workers; it is the MINIMUM wage, after all. But one study suggests that a third of all workers in Los Angeles actually make less than the minimum wage. How can that be?
Which Way, L.A.?
Los Angeles: The Nation's Capital of Wage Theft Employers of low-wage workers in Los Angeles lead the nation for making employees work through breaks, for failing to pay the minimum wage, much less overtime --- and for taking illegal deductions. The garment industry is notorious, and last week the state Labor Commissioner cited 35 carwashes -- from El Monte to Compton to Santa Clarita -- for stealing $1.3 million from 400 employees.
Recommended
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Terrorism in London: Lessons for the US This weekend’s terrorist attack in London left seven people dead and almost 50 injured. London police fatally shot the attackers, and ISIS claimed responsibility.
The Treatment
Hua Hsu: A Floating Chinaman Author Hua Hsu stops by to discuss his book A Floating Chinaman, recounting the life of 1930's actor/writer H.T. Tsiang and his struggles entering the American literary world.