In the KOOP Community Council’s continued celebration of international labor rights and labor organizers for May Day 2022, we’re sharing this local news about the Central South Carpenters Regional Council’s April 12, 2022 press conference at Austin City Hall. The Tax Fraud Day of Action press conference brought awareness to the issue that current labor policies put carpenters and construction staff at risk of wage theft and lack of protection by labor laws. The press conference highlighted the fact that public safety includes economic stability where our community has access to good jobs, earns a fair wage, and receives benefits when employers classify employees correctly.
As Central South Carpenters Regional Council Executive Secretary Treasurer Jason Engels states in the press conference, by misclassifying workers as contractors rather than employees, some Texas employers are failing to contribute to workers’ rights for unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation, and “Texas companies are getting out of paying over $1b in taxes annually.”
To learn how to contact your local leaders and advocate for fair compensation for our friends and neighbors, you can contact KOOP’s Community Council for guidance at communitycouncil@koop.org
At the press conference, the Central South Carpenters Regional Council brought together the Travis County District Attorney’s office, Central Texas Building Trades, the Laborers’ International Union of North America, Texas AFL-CIO, Workers Defense Project, Austin City Councilperson Ann Kitchen’s office, Rep. Gina Hinojosa, and Greg Casar to reinforce the central Texas community’s commitment to investigating and prosecuting criminal cases of payroll fraud and wage theft.
Members of the public, regardless of their immigrant status, can report incidents of wage theft via the link at the District Attorney’s website or by emailing TCDAWageTheft@traviscountytx.gov
You can view the press conference by clicking on the link below. If you want to connect with KOOP’s Community Council to celebrate May Day, find ways to improve worker conditions in central Texas, and advocate for the working class, you can email communitycouncil@koop.org