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We were sad to learn that this week a bus plunged 200 meters down a ravine in the municipality of San Martin Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango Department. A least 43 people died in the accident. San Martin Jilotepeque is the home town of our dear friend, Elias Garcia.

“Immigration Reform, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” will be the subject of a special “Listen-In” program at the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood, 113 Cottage Place, Ridgewood, NJ 07450. Sponsored by the Unitarian Society’s Peace and Justice Committee, the program will review the bill that passed in the Senate this summer, and some bills that are pending review in the House. Members of the audience will be invited to share their opinions on how our broken immigration system should be fixed. Members of Congress Freylinghuysen, Garrett, and Pascrell have been invited to participate. The program is free and open to all.

The Community of Friends in Action, Inc., resumed its regular schedule of monthly meetings after a summer break. The group meets at 7:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month at the Presbyterian Church of Leonia, our host for many years. All are welcome to participate. Let our chairs Suzanne Broffman (stbroffman@hotmail.com) or Carolyn Sobering (cwsobering@verizon.net) know if you would like to receive information about the meetings.

Our faithful wage theft committee continues to slog away at a number of cases. Many situations involve sub-contractors who have not been paid—or claim not to have been paid—by the contractor. In one of these, 5 workers are owed $8000. The committee has met with the sub-contractor who agreed to a payment schedule, which to date he has not kept. The case will be filed with the Department of Labor. Worker-complainants are beginning to submit better records of work done for which they have not been paid. One man documented non-payment for 230 hours from a local moving company. A check with the Better Business Bureau revealed that the company is a fly-by-night organization with numerous complaints filed against it. A member of the wage theft committee has spoken with the owner and there are many charges and counter-charges between owner and managers. We will continue with the case.

In a very old case, the Department of Labor investigator at long last tracked down the address of a contractor who owes a worker almost $1000 for construction work. The contractor did not respond to a subpoena so the DOL will take him to court.

A large and difficult case involving some $20,000 was finally heard in Federal Court in New York. The employer did not appear, so the worker won the case by default. Now the question is whether the money can be collected. A large law firm is handling the case on behalf of the worker.

All of these involve criminal actions on the part of self-serving employers. They attest to one of many reasons why our immigration system is broken; without some kind of help the workers are at the mercy of these immoral organizations—and even with help the odds against justice being served are long. As Dr. Hung-en Sung wrote in his article on wage theft, “The market victimizes what the state has criminalized.”

This is the time to let our federal legislators hear from us—we need a working immigration policy!

Members of CoFiA joyfully joined with many other friends and family members to celebrate the 65^th wedding anniversary of Hans and Ellie, on Sunday, September 8, 2013, at the Alpine Pavilion in Palisades Interstate Park. Their children and  grandchildren organized and facilitated the party. A wonderful day!

Thanks to the generosity of the NJ Guatemalan community, the Guatemalan consulate, and members and friends of CoFiA, sufficient funds were raised to return the body of Alfonso Teletor to his family in Guatemala for burial.  He drowned recently in Overpeck Creek.  He was 23 years old.  Money received by CoFiA after September 6 will be returned to donors unless the donor specifically requests that the contribution be retained in a special fund for such emergencies.

Many thanks to all, and especially to staff member Angelica Martinez who organized the fund collection drive and worked closely with the family.

We hope you’re enjoying the wonderful warm weather and time with family. The CoFiA summer newsletter is now available, with pictures of our latest volunteer appreciation dinner, news on our wage theft committee and more. Click here to read it on PDF now.

The Monday meetings of Casa Latina will be held from 7 – 9 p.m. at , Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, 941 Slocum Ave., Ridgefield, beginning on June 17. For more information call Elias Garcia, 201-362-3928 (Spanish) or Margaret White (201-833-1737).  CoFiA and G.U.D. thank Pastor Janet Blair, Clergy Representative to CoFiA, and the members of Zion Evangelical for offering the space free of charge.  For several years the church has also provided space for  free OSHA-training classes.

One of the missions of CoFiA is to help workers resolve wage theft disputes when they do work but don’t get the payment promised to them.  It is often frustrating and slow-going work.  That’s what makes it particularly rewarding when it’s met with success!  The Committee reported this week that they were able to collect $1,750 for one of the workers (of $2,000 due).  The contractor met with the committee and gave them a check which they then turned over to the worker.  Another payment is still due a second worker–who volunteered to have the first check go to his friend because he had gotten the job for him and felt responsible.

People often ask how we are able to convince the contractors to make these payments.  Most people believe that when something is stolen, the law has to follow up and recover the lost property, as is the case when workers do their job but are denied the wages promised them.  But wage case situations seldom work that way.  The committee has found that the only feasible action in nearly all cases is personal contact between the committee and the contractor.  In some cases, like this one, the contractor seemed genuinely surprised that anyone would call him to account. However, the work of bringing this unethical behavior to light had the intended effect this time and we are thrilled!

Help us continue the work of ensuring fairness in wage theft cases by joining CoFiA today.  And re-post this story on Facebook to spread the word!