9/17/2014
Wanting it both ways: Fear of taxation and loss of handout keeping illegal immigrants choosing life in the shadows.
Immigrant Women in Arizona Vulnerable to Workplace Exploitation
TUCSON, Arizona – Immigrant women in Tucson are vulnerable to exploitation in the workplace and are often paid less than the minimum wage, particularly if they are undocumented, researchers at the University of Arizona said.
“We continually hear such stories and we want the community and our government to realize what is happening and to do something about it,” Nina Rabin, associate professor at UA’s James E. Rogers College of Law, told Efe.
Rabin is co-author of “Out of the Shadows: Shedding Light on the Working Conditions of Immigrant Women in Tucson,” a report from Rogers’ Bacon Immigration Law & Policy Program and the Southwest Institute for Research on Women.
The authors interviewed some 90 working women plus 29 government officials and community leaders.
“We discovered repeated stories of abuse, exploitation and the failure to pay fair wages,” Rabin said about the women interviewed, of whom 82 percent were of Mexican origin.
Fifty-eight percent of the subjects had work permits, 91 percent had children and 94 percent contributed financially to their households.
Seven of the 70 workers paid by the hour said they earned less than the minimum wage.
That was the case with Adelina Lopez, 24, who worked at a store selling soft drinks.
“The person who hired me knew I had no work permit but he told me that was no problem,” Lopez told Efe.
Though by law the minimum wage for any employee in Arizona is currently $7.90 an hour, Lopez was only paid $7.00 an hour.
“Unfortunately that happens a lot and many women are afraid to report these abuses due to their immigration status,” the young woman said.
The women interviewed also said they were forced to work under constant pressure.
In some hotels they were required to clean a room in 15 minutes, while workers in tortilla kitchens said that they had to make 18 trays of tortillas per hour.
“I believe this study shows what immigrant women go through, not just in Arizona but everywhere in the country,” Rabin said.
For their part, elder-care workers described living conditions in which they were on duty almost 24 hours a day, but were paid for only a fraction of the work they did.
Another problem detected in the report is these women’s lack of understanding about their rights, since 78 percent of those interviewed had no idea how much the minimum wage was.
source
Wanting it both ways: Fear of taxation and loss of handout keeping illegal immigrants choosing life in the shadows.
Immigrant Women in Arizona Vulnerable to Workplace Exploitation
TUCSON, Arizona – Immigrant women in Tucson are vulnerable to exploitation in the workplace and are often paid less than the minimum wage, particularly if they are undocumented, researchers at the University of Arizona said.“We continually hear such stories and we want the community and our government to realize what is happening and to do something about it,” Nina Rabin, associate professor at UA’s James E. Rogers College of Law, told Efe.
Rabin is co-author of “Out of the Shadows: Shedding Light on the Working Conditions of Immigrant Women in Tucson,” a report from Rogers’ Bacon Immigration Law & Policy Program and the Southwest Institute for Research on Women.
The authors interviewed some 90 working women plus 29 government officials and community leaders.
“We discovered repeated stories of abuse, exploitation and the failure to pay fair wages,” Rabin said about the women interviewed, of whom 82 percent were of Mexican origin.
Fifty-eight percent of the subjects had work permits, 91 percent had children and 94 percent contributed financially to their households.
Seven of the 70 workers paid by the hour said they earned less than the minimum wage.
That was the case with Adelina Lopez, 24, who worked at a store selling soft drinks.
“The person who hired me knew I had no work permit but he told me that was no problem,” Lopez told Efe.
Though by law the minimum wage for any employee in Arizona is currently $7.90 an hour, Lopez was only paid $7.00 an hour.
“Unfortunately that happens a lot and many women are afraid to report these abuses due to their immigration status,” the young woman said.
The women interviewed also said they were forced to work under constant pressure.
In some hotels they were required to clean a room in 15 minutes, while workers in tortilla kitchens said that they had to make 18 trays of tortillas per hour.
“I believe this study shows what immigrant women go through, not just in Arizona but everywhere in the country,” Rabin said.
For their part, elder-care workers described living conditions in which they were on duty almost 24 hours a day, but were paid for only a fraction of the work they did.
Another problem detected in the report is these women’s lack of understanding about their rights, since 78 percent of those interviewed had no idea how much the minimum wage was.
source
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