Community leaders, members of the clergy and working families plan to speak out against the Wage Theft legislation passed Wednesday, by Republican lawmakers in the Florida House. The group will also deliver letters to Office Depot, Publix and Macy’s, asking the businesses to reconsider their support for the bill.
The bill, (HB 609), will eliminate regulations like the Miami-Dade Wage Theft Ordinance, which recovered nearly $400,000 in wages stolen from employees, would pre-empt any other local governments from imposing regulations to deal with wage theft in their comunities. Along party lines, Republicans passed the bill in a 77-38 vote.
The group will hold a press conference at Office Depot, 2112 East Colonial Drive, prior to delivering the letters to Publix, Macy’s and Office Depot.
HB 609 passed the Florida House of Representatives on February 29th and its companion, SB 862, is making its way through the Florida Senate.
A recent study found that wage theft removes millions of dollars from local communities and hurts low-income workers and their families most.
