Demonstration Friday In Worcester Will Highlight Wage Theft

WORCESTER, MA — State lawmakers and members of a local trade union will hold a demonstration Friday in front of Union Station to highlight wage theft, according to organizers.

The Carpenters Local 336 union is leading the demonstration, which will feature State Reps. Dan Donahue, Jim O'Day, Mary Keefe and David LeBoeuf, and state Sens. Harriette Chandler and Michael Moore.

Donahue is the sponsor of a bill in the state House that would strengthen state law to criminalize wage theft. The bill would also give the attorney general more power to penalize employers that engage in wage theft.

The Worcester event is part of a larger "Standing Up To Tax Fraud" effort by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters to highlight payment problems in the construction industry. The campaign likens paying workers under the table — a practice the union says makes workers susceptible to wage theft — to tax fraud because the payments elude state and federal taxes.

The Worcester event begins at 4 p.m. inside the Grand Hall at Union Station, 2 Washington Square.