Katrina Workers Abused

Workers who headed to New Orleans in 2005 to help rebuild the Hurricane Katrina-devastated city were abused and exploited, according to a report by Interfaith Worker Justice and testimony from worker groups at a House hearing Tuesday. The IWJ report, Working on Faith: A Faithful Response to Worker Abuse in New Orleans, surveyed a cross section of 218 Latino, African American, White and other Katrina reconstruction workers in the summer of 2006. The report found that "workers experienced abuses of fundamental rights, including not receiving wages for their work and non-payment of overtime (wage theft), exposure to toxins without proper safety training or equipment, workplace injuries without workers' compensation and discrimination." To read the full story, click here. Day laborer removes debris from a house in the Lower Ninth Ward, photo by Rachel Metz
-Report by Mike Hall, AFL-CIO Now Blog