Rosa Guadalupe had given up asking for the hundreds of dollars she’d earned cleaning at two hotels. Like so many racialized and immigrant workers, she faced wage theft and didn’t know what to do or where to turn.
At the Workers’ Action Centre, we meet workers everyday who are exploited by bad bosses who take advantage of workers immigration status or are discriminated against at work.
Racism so often leaves most of us feeling powerless. But we know together, we can build worker power to fight back. So on this International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, we’re putting a spotlight on how Rosa Guadalupe was empowered to recover $3,162 of her stolen wages.
Interview with Rosa Guadalupe
Where were you working when your wages were stolen?
Rosa: I started working in 2021 with a temp agency. They sent me to work at two hotels, but eventually they began to delay some payments. When I realized that I wasn’t being paid for all my hours, I let them know. They started telling me things like, “Why didn’t you notify us?” But I always sent them the days I worked and the hours. Even though I had all the messages that showed I worked on those days, the agency said, “No, too much time has passed. We can’t verify that.”
What did you do to get the money you were owed?
Rosa: In the end, I had everything. When I finished working with them, I compiled a list of all the days I had worked, which I had in all the messages I sent them. They said they couldn’t verify it. Time passed, and I decided not to fight it. After a while, I decided not to pursue it, but a friend told me about the Workers’ Action Centre. I told her no, let them keep the money. Months passed, and I decided to attend one of their events.
The Defending Our Rights workshop is where I met Veronica, one of the organizers. Vero said to me, “I want to help you with your case.” We started working together. She began to send them emails. They said they couldn’t pay everything I asked for because they couldn’t verify the days I had worked at that other hotel and whatnot. Vero and I went through all my chat history, and she started to press them.
What did you learn in the process?
Rosa: Veronica explained to me about vacation days. Actually, I didn’t know I was entitled to vacation pay. It turned out that I was owed a little more money than I had asked for. In December 2023, they told me they could give me about $1,200, and Vero pressed again and said she would make a claim with the Ministry of Labour. And let them deal with the Ministry. In the end, they decided to pay me all the money, and by the end of the year, thank God, my cheque arrived. It was thanks to Vero that I was helped a lot, and I am very grateful to her.
Experiences of wage theft often make us feel alone. Who else in your community is impacted by wage theft?
Rosa: This happens to many of my friends. I try to tell my friends what I learned from the Workers’ Action Centre. Many are afraid to ask their bosses for what they deserve, or for the rights they have because many think that this will cause them problems with the government, or that they will lose their job. Many are afraid to claim and ask for fear of being left without work. I try to tell them to demand what belongs to us, whether we have status or not.
What would you say to other workers experiencing wage theft?
Rosa: Don’t let them get away with it; approach them to learn more about your rights. Don’t be afraid because, in the end, we also deserve correct pay. Even without status, we don’t deserve to be treated badly or to not be paid on time or in full. Approach the Workers’ Action Centre. Learn more about all this and let’s not be taken advantage of by people who exploit those of us who come to work and don’t have a work permit.
If you are interested in learning about your rights at work, come to our next Know Your Rights At Work workshop. It’s a free 1-hour workshop taking place online on Thursday, April 25 at 6:00 PM. Click here to register to receive the Zoom link.
For many workers like Rosa who are trying to get back their wages, many more never see a dime of their hard earned money.
That’s why we’re building worker power both by learning how to defend our rights at work and by coming together to fight for better worker conditions. To win Justice for Workers, we need an end racism that makes wage theft and other workplace violations so widespread.