With a week left before Thanksgiving, people in cities across the country are coming together to remember those who are struggling to put food on the table because they are victims of a crime wave that few people even talk about. The National Day of Action Against Wage Theft calls attention to the widespread injustices faced by vulnerable workers across the country. It also provides a timely opportunity to appreciate the severity of the problem, understand its pernicious effects, and come together to work for solutions close to home.

As the economy has soured, a growing number of employers have adopted business models that rely on maximizing profit by skirting workplace protections, including protections as basic as the right to minimum wage and overtime. In a recent study of low-wage workers in three major cities, researchers found that more than one-quarter of workers surveyed were paid less than the minimum wage in the preceding week, and more than three-quarters were not properly paid overtime. The study further found that such workers lose $56.4 million per week in wage violations. Moreover, such violations are not confined to traditional sweatshop industries like big apparel but are increasingly found in other low-wage, service sector jobs such as hospitality and restaurant services, delivery services, grocery stores, car washes and retail services. Not even employees of large businesses are immune from this seeming epidemic; Staples Inc. and Wal-Mart were recently required to pay $42 million and $35 million, respectively, in unpaid wages. (click on link to read full story)