David Moberg recently blogged on this site about efforts to crack down on wage theft at the federal level, saying signs of progress are surfacing after years of neglect by leaders in Washington.

But another bright spot is emerging in New Orleans, where wage theft and other abuses have been heaped on workers in a post-Hurricane Katrina economy.

Since In These Times last wrote about the plight of workers in the Big Easy in 2007, problems have persisted.

In late June, workers rights advocates in the city testified at a public city council hearing to galvanize support for a city ordinance that would criminalize the act of withholding wages. Federal law and Louisiana state law treats wage theft as a civil matter, which is typically handled in small claims court.

(Please click link to read full story)