Bizdom U 2009: Andrew Hwang

Recently in Philadelphia, Rosenbaum-Cunningham International, a janitorial firm, was caught employing illegal immigrants that worked in major restaurants such as the Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood, and Dave & Busters. Rosenbaum-Cunningham and three top executives were indicted this year in Michigan on federal charges for hiring illegal immigrants and failing to pay the federal government more than $18 million in employment taxes. The firm took in $56 million dollars of revenue from 2001-2005 without keeping hold of any timesheets or payroll records. “People should be aware of the kinds of exploitative situations that are happening out there, in particular with immigrant workers,” said Nadia Hewka, a lawyer at Community Legal Services in Philadelphia. “Someone who worked 80 hours a week should get paid fairly for those hours, no matter their immigration status.” Many of the illegal employees claimed to have worked up to 80 hours/weeks working long shifts every day of the week cleaning kitchens and bathrooms. Typically, these workers earned less than the federal minimum wage of $5.15/hour and received no overtime pay.

The biggest question of the case is this: Should illegal immigrants share the same rights as those who are legally employed? In my opinion, yes. There is a huge debate whether or not illegal immigrants should even be protected by the government or if they should have any rights for that matter. But just because someone is illegally employed doesn’t necessarily mean that employers should exploit their desperation to live a decent life. Rather than being a debate of legality, I think the core of the matter boils down morality and the values of humanity. Humans are humans regardless of their citizenship or ethnicity and therefore, they should be treated with the same decency by their employer whether they are working legally or illegally. After all, these employers are saving millions of dollars by not reporting payroll taxes on these employees- the least they could do is pay them a comparable wage.

By no means am I encouraging illegal employment, rather I am advocating that all employers treat their workers with utmost respect by compensating them for their hard work. To me, it doesn’t seem like these people are working long treacherous hours to lavishly spend their money on useless things.  Instead, they are only trying accomplish a mere sustainable life that will get them from one day to the next, feeding and supporting their families. Therefore, at least pay them what they deserve.