LOS ANGELES (CNS) — Ahead of Labor Day, Los Angeles City Council members on Friday will introduce a package of motions designed to combat what they describe as a “pressing problem of wage theft in the city.”

Council members Hugo Soto-Martínez and Tim McOsker said they will introduce a package of legislation at Friday’s City Council meeting, which is intended to improve enforcement of wage and hour violations across the city. 

The motions also aim to improve coordination between city departments to “effectively respond to and support victims of wage theft.”

“Today, we’re going to unveil an incredible package of motions that will begin the process of ending Los Angeles’ reputation as the wage theft capital of the United States,” Soto-Martínez said during a press conference outside of City Hall. “Together, this legislation will bring justice to working people, who are facing and going up against corporate greed.”

Armando Gudino, LA Worker Center Network executive director, said he joined the council members to support and help their efforts to combat “one of LA’s most pressing challenges affecting global low-wage workers” — the issue of employee wages.

“As the City Council continues to work hard to address the systemic, challenging issues that make Los Angeles the homeless capital of the U.S., unfortunately, Los Angeles has also been the wage theft capital of the nation, with low-income workers and others suffering disproportionately,” Gudino said.

He said that victims of wage theft lose an estimated 12.5% of “take home” pay every year.

McOsker said one of the motions was already introduced some time ago.

The city attorney’s office and a city department currently investigate wage theft cases. This motion is intended to identify resources and the needs of these two entities to ensure they have the necessary funds, staff and any other requirements to take on wage theft, according to McOsker.

The second motion, which will be filed Friday afternoon, seeks to rectify the more “subtle ways” that wages are stolen, such as an employer who does not provide meal breaks or does not pay overtime or if an employer refuses to pay someone for a “special assignment” or extra work.

“What we’re looking to do is make sure that we are letting folks know about those forms of wage theft in languages that are appropriate and create opportunities for folks to come to us,” McOsker said. “So that we can investigate and prosecute those crimes.”

The councilman noted that wage theft particularly impacts low-wage workers of color, immigrants, as well as women.

The councilman will introduce resolutions supporting federal legislation to help those particularly impacted groups.

“We know that today in the United States, women make about 70 cents on the dollar for equal work compared to men,” McOsker said. “Again, it is worse for women of color.”

He emphasized that the resolution would support a federal bill establishing that men and women are paid equally for work. The second resolution will also support a federal bill for healthy families — setting a national standard for sick time off in the workplace.

“We really honored to be here in community to make sure that we’re moving forward on a slate of pieces of legislation to work with working families, and we see on Labor Day how far we’ve come,” McOsker said. “It’s also important for us to realize how far we need to make sure that everyone’s fairly paid.”

Soto-Martínez reiterated that $1.4 billion are lost yearly because people are mistreated — those who are cooks, dishwashers, housekeepers, immigrants and women of color.

“Every year in the city of Los Angeles, more money is lost than we invest in homelessness,” Soto-Martínez said.

City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto echoed the council members’ sentiments in that wage theft in LA is staggering and takes different forms.

She noted her office, which, despite the lack of specialized enforcement funding, resolved five cases recently, resulting in more than $2.5 million in restitution to workers and additional penalties.

Jeremiah Gordon, organizing coordinator at LA Black Worker Center, touched upon the consequences Black Angelenos face due to wage theft.

“Although Black people make up 7.6% of the population in Los Angeles, Black people experiencing homelessness represent 31% of the unhoused population,” Gordon said. “Black workers experienced the highest rates of unemployment almost twice that of white workers because discrimination in LA happens far too often.”

He continued to say loss of income is a primary reason residents fall into homelessness and substance abuse.

Patricia Alvarez Solis, a car washer and CLEAN Car Washer Worker Center member, shared her experience as a Latina, immigrant, and woman facing harassment and wage theft.

Solis explained how she loved her job as a car washer, but due to harassment and unfair wages — $10 to $15 a car — made her quit her job. She couldn’t send money back to Mexico for her children and worried about paying rent.

“I’m here today to support the motions from council members Soto- Martínez and McOsker so they may protect the most vulnerable workers of our city, and people like me, who work hard to feed their families.”