Introduction by Cathy Junia
Millions of workers have their wages stolen every day. According to the Economic Policy Foundation, a business-funded think-tank, companies annually steal $19 billion from workers by not paying overtime, one of the many forms of wage theft.
Wage theft is rampant across all industries, but it hurts low-wage workers the most. Common forms of wage theft, in addition to nonpayment of overtime, include not giving workers their last paycheck after a worker leaves a job; not paying for all the hours worked; not paying minimum wage; and even not paying a worker at all.
Wage Theft Comics: Crime and Justice is an activist comic book that both chronicles the experience of low-wage victims of wage theft and guides workers and potential allies toward a path for justice. The authors, writer Jeffry Odell Korgen (The True Cost of Low Prices: The Violence of Globalization) and author/illustrator Kevin Pyle (Prison Town and Take What You Can Carry) conducted interviews in the Houston area to create personal stories of actual people who struggle with the consequences of their exploitation and their attempts to end it. Korgen and Pyle intersperse these stories with infographics that illuminate the full scope and prevalence of the problem and help workers navigate the complexities of seeking justice.
Printed in English and Spanish, Wage Thefts Comics is published by Interfaith Worker Justice, with the help of Fe Y Justicia, a worker center in the Houston area. Combining moving personal stories and shocking facts, Wage Theft Comics ultimately seeks to educate and inspire workers and the people who care about them to come together, organize and put a stop to the shameful practice of wage theft. The comic book is funded in part by grants from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Campaign for Human Development and the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Catholic Campaign for Human Development.
To order copies, please visit www.iwj.org or email [email protected].
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