Infuriating

From FNC:"Labor Dept. Offers Assistance to Illegal Immigrants Facing Wage Disparties"

I do not understand how these Congressmen can say, "if you work, you don't deserve pay, because you're in this country illegally." These people are people, you assholes. I don't care if they're immigrants. I don't care if you would rather them go away. These are moms, dads, and just because they don't look like you or speak English, doesn't mean you can call them "illegal" or treat them as less than human or rob them of their paychecks.

I've been cheated out of close to $300 of wages while I worked in Ireland. It happens (a lot) and it's not something people make up.

Just this week, a guy came to our office explaining that he had not been paid for work he's done. Why would he bother seeking out our office to tell me a lie? He had a tax stub from wages he had made the previous year. Let me repeat that, he had a tax stub (ie he pays taxes you pricks.) But his boss just decided to stop paying him. Why? Because he can. What on earth would you do about it? This guy has called and called and called his employer. No response.

By golly, how dare the DOL offer a government service to help recover these wages. I know the Bush administration just made his DOL into another Dept. of Commerce, but you know what? Workers deserve protections (and they need them). Workers who get hurt on the job, deserve assistance in filing for workers compensation. Workers who have faced discrimination in the workplace deserve to have anti-discrimination laws enforced and companies penalized. Workers shouldn't die when they go to work- if you're going to make money off the labor of others, you better not neglect those people's safety to save a dime. The DOL is responsible for all of these functions.

This all ignores the fact that businesses who would rather hire undocumented workers are the real problem. Why are they allowed to break the law? And why do they do it? Because they can and it allows them to pay these people $5/hour and ignore safety/overtime laws because their workers don't have the legal recourse to do anything about it.

I guess my point is that all workers deserve safe and fair workplaces and to be paid for the work they do. Period.