Worker Justice Center successful at going after 'wage theft'

Agency lobbying for ordinance to protect workers in Fayetteville

Published: October 2, 2010

By Patricia May
Fayetteville Correspondent

Patricia May

Jose Luis Aguayo-Herrara (left) stands with Manuel Calderon, a worker who is being helped by the center, and Fernando Garcia at the Workers' Justice Center in Springdale Sept. 27.

Patricia May

Jose Luis Aguayo-Herrara (left) stands with Manuel Calderon, a worker who is being helped by the center, and Fernando Garcia at the Workers' Justice Center in Springdale Sept. 27.

SPRINGDALE -- The Northwest Arkansas Workers' Justice Center unexpectedly lost its executive director because of illness last fall, but that hasn't dimmed the passion its staff members have for protecting the low-wage worker -- nor, they contend, did the need for their assistance wane.

Founded in 2002, the organization helps low-income workers with ensuring their legal rights are protected in work-place issues, including workers' compensation, discrimination and what they describe as "wage theft."

Jose Luis Aguayo-Herrara, interim executive director, said wage theft applies to situations when employers refuse to pay their workers or keep them from collecting certain earned benefits. Such situations often involve undocumented workers (and about 80 percent of workers with such claims are Latino) but, Aguayo-Herrara said, it should not be considered an immigration issue. The NWAWJC also has assisted with wage theft cases for African Americans, Caucasians and Marshalese, he said.

In the case of undocumented workers, unscrupulous employers know their victims are hesitant to file complaints for fear they'll be deported, Aguayo-Herrara said. He contended law enforcement officials, whether it's police presented with theft of services complaints or prosecutors, often don't act.

The nonprofit NWAWJC tries to help workers in various ways, sometimes through the U.S. Department of Labor but also through other methods, including direct negotiations with employers, Aguayo-Herrara said. If employers fail to comply with the negotiated agreement, then the case may be taken to small claims court, which, in Arkansas, can address claims up to $5,000. That's often "most successful than the (slow-moving) Department of Labor," he noted.

Aguayo-Herrara seems, in some regards, an unlikely candidate to oversee the justice center. A 2008 University of Arkansas graduate (with a degree in chemical engineering), he's currently studying for the MCAT and hopes to attend medical school in the next year or so. In the meantime, he's taken a slight detour as social worker, a job he noted is "180 degrees" from where he expected to be originally.

"This is time for me to get in a little experience ... instead of staying at home, doing nothing," he said modestly.

It's a bit of a family affair as his sister, Ana Aguayo, is working as grant coordinator while she prepares to eventually attend law school. They are both originally from Mexico but came with their family first to California and later moved to Arkansas to be closer to relatives. The third staff member is Fernando Garcia, campaign coordinator.

A $35,000 grant from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development this year has allowed the staff to increase the capacity and scope of work, Aguayo-Herrara said.

"With that grant, we'll be able to hire another individual to help us with organizing and also giving all of us more time to delegate and understand our work and campaigns," he said.

With assistance from volunteer lawyers, the NWAWJC has been drafting a proposed Fayetteville ordinance giving all employees, regardless of immigration status, protection from unscrupulous employers, Aguayo-Herrara said. Mayor Lioneld Jordan has expressed support, he added, and the center hopes to get enough support from city council members to pass the ordinance.

"As soon as we pass it in Fayetteville, we will share it with other interested cities (including) Springdale, Rogers, Morrilton, Fort Smith and Pine Bluff ... so they can mimic (the law)," he added.

Organizers want to introduce it to the Arkansas state legislature next year with hopes of having it become law by July 2011.

The center embraces many causes, such as card check, commonly associated with unions. But Aguayo-Herrara said the NWAWJC is a non-profit organization, not a union organization.

"We have worked with unions on issues for better working conditions for employees, but we are not a union. We (work with) our members solely (to help) them to get the benefits they have worked for. We're basically advocates for those who are afraid," especially those who fear reprisals because of their immigration status, he added.

The northwest Arkansas center, located on Sunset Avenue not far from St. Raphael Church, is the worker justice center in the state and its focus is primarily on workers in northwest Arkansas. But workers have come from other states, including Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri in search of help, Aguayo-Herrara said.