For a Few Dollars More

As we watched the two construction workers go knock on the door of their former employer’s residence along with the Arise leaders, we didn’t know quite what to expect. This man has stiffed them several thousand dollars and has since rebuffed their attempts to confront him on this issue, defying a court order he signed agreeing to pay up.

Would it be different this time because they were now at his front door, with several community allies with them, including a Methodist reverend? Or would they get the door slammed in their face?

Well, it was different. And they didn’t get the door slammed in their face, but their old boss was not there either. Instead, they got to speak with his wife, who was quite unaware of the situation. In her, they actually got a decent audience, as she listened, asked questions, and eyed the rest of us on the sidewalk, who were wearing giant digits on our chests, showing the number “$4,000,” the amount of wages yet to be paid to these workers. They were able to show the wife the court document with her husband’s signature on it, promising to pay. (The workers had actually accommodated his claims of financial hardship by agreeing to accept the backwages in smaller installments, but even these were forthcoming).

It proved to be a very civil exchange, but it’s not everyday that people show up at your door informing you that your spouse is defying the law by withholding thousands of dollars in wages from his employees! So, I’m sure he is hearing about it from her, and that may prove to be a more effective means of getting through than we could have otherwise planned. The two workers seemed encouraged by the exchange, and I hope that sustains them at a time when they need their wages the most.

Meanwhile, we will continue to work for justice by discerning what our next steps are. A possible path to explore is how this employer may be held in contempt of court for his defiance. He and too many employers who, like him, steal wages, are certainly in contempt of their workers, our communities, and according to many of our faith traditions, the living God:

Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is one of your countrymen or is a foreigner residing in one of your towns. Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
-Deuteronomy 24:14-15