Photo: GEORGE FREY/AFP/Getty Images
He Department of Labor (DOL) recovered the lost wages of 65 Mexican immigrant workers who worked in the south of Californiasome of whom were paid as little as $2.43 an hour, highlighted the Mexican consulate in San Diego, which called on foreign workers to denounce labor violations such as the wage theft.
📢📢📢 Dept of Labor (@USDOL 🇺🇸) recovered $1.1 million from two SD companies that paid 65 workers from 🇲🇽 as little as $2.43 p/hour. Thanks @WHD_DOL for pointing out your partnership w/@ConsulMexSdi to protect workers’ rights, regardless of immigration. statushttps://t.co/rCwLjsLRSx
— Carlos González Gtez (@carlos_glezgtez) March 21, 2023
The DOL announced in a statement that it was able to recover $1.1 million in unpaid wages for workers at Freig Carrillo Forwarding Inc. and ACV Logistics Inc., which operate in the San Diego area.
The affected workers received their salary in Mexican pesos through direct deposit and they were paid just $2.43 an hour, well below the California minimum wage.
A DOL investigation found that from December 2019 to December 2021 Freig Carrillo Forwarding denied minimum wage and overtime pay to Mexican citizens who worked at its San Diego warehouses.
Investigators determined that the company paid workers an average of $3.24 per hour and that they were normally paid in Mexican pesos for work weeks that averaged almost 45 hours, at a fixed rate of $180 to $200 Mexican pesos. The US work week is 40 hours.
In the case of ACV Logistics Inc, the authorities discovered that between April 7, 2020 and April 6, 2022 the company paid some workers at $2.43 per hour. The firm’s owner, Armando Carrillo, agreed with the DOL that he will pay $70,104 in back wages, as well as damages, to 15 Mexican citizens.
The sanctions against Freig Carrillo Forwarding Inc and its owner Javier Martin Freig were imposed by the federal court for the Southern District of California, which ordered a total payment of $1 million dollars in back wages and damages to 35 workers.
DOL labor attorney Seema Nanda said in the statement that they will not tolerate “this type of exploitative labor practices”.
“An employee’s citizenship does not influence whether the protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act apply to them,” Nanda added.
The Consul General of Mexico in San Diego, Carlos González Gutiérrez, promoting the result of the investigation carried out by DOL, encouraged Mexican workers to contact the consulate for free advice on potential employer violations.
In addition, he asked the Mexican workers in the region to know your rights as American workers, “including the right to report labor violations without fear of threats and intimidation.”
With information from EFE
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