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Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · Jul 18

This is how it’s done! Oregon’s labor agency is sending a clear message: immigration-related threats won’t be tolerated. A great example of how state and local agencies can use comms to protect immigrant workers:

content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BOLI Reaffirms that Threatening to Call ICE Against Workers is Illegal Retaliation, Regardless of Immigration Status

content.govdelivery.com

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Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · Jul 14

And the protections that remain? They’re barely enforced. As of November 2024, Missouri had just one wage and hour investigator for the entire state. Those in power aren’t just blocking new rights, they’re gutting the systems meant to uphold existing ones.

Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · Jul 14

Repealing paid sick leave and higher wages strips workers of the income and time off they need to care for themselves and their families. It’s a direct attack on people’s health, stability and dignity.

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Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · Jul 14

One lawmaker said this about voters:

“Of course the people voted for it. It’d be like asking your teenager if he wanted a checkbook. You know, they’re going to vote for it every time.”

That’s what they think about working people and democracy itself.

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Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · Jul 14

This isn’t just anti-worker, it’s anti-democratic. The people of Missouri spoke directly at the ballot box. They voted for basic fairness on the job. And lawmakers turned around and erased it with open contempt for the very people they supposedly represent.

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Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · Jul 14

Last year, Missouri voters passed a ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage and guarantee paid sick leave. This week, the governor signed a bill to undo these wins. 🧵
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...

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Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · Jul 14

And the protections that remain? They’re barely enforced. As of November 2024, Missouri had just one wage and hour investigator for the entire state. Those in power aren’t just blocking new rights, they’re gutting the systems meant to uphold existing ones.

Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · Jul 14

Repealing paid sick leave and higher wages strips workers of the income and time off they need to care for themselves and their families. It’s a direct attack on people’s health, stability and dignity.

1

Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · Jul 14

One lawmaker said this about voters:

“Of course the people voted for it. It’d be like asking your teenager if he wanted a checkbook. You know, they’re going to vote for it every time.”

That’s what they think about working people and democracy itself.

1

Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · Jul 14

This isn’t just anti-worker, it’s anti-democratic. The people of Missouri spoke directly at the ballot box. They voted for basic fairness on the job. And lawmakers turned around and erased it with open contempt for the very people they supposedly represent.

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Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · Jul 11

Judge ruled that the governor is prohibited from directing DLSS staff to turn over personal information to federal authorities. Win for workers & for the principle that labor agencies serve the public, not immigration enforcement or political superiors. Thank you Colorado Labor and Scott Moss.

Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · Jul 11

Despite pressure from Colorado’s governor, Scott Moss and his team upheld both the law and their mission: ensuring workers, regardless of immigration status, are safe to come forward about wage theft and exploitation. Moss even filed a whistleblower lawsuit to stop the disclosure

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Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · Jul 11

When ICE issued a subpoena seeking employment records of 35 sponsors of unaccompanied minors, DLSS refused to betray workers’ trust or violate Colorado law that bars state officials from sharing personal information with ICE unless it’s part of a criminal investigation.

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Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · Jul 11

Huge respect to Scott Moss and the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics at Colorado Labor for standing firm in the face of ICE pressure and political interference. Their integrity and commitment to immigrant workers’ rights set a national example.

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Reposted by Janice Fine

Stephanie Kulke @kickstartsteph.bsky.social · Jun 10

Wage theft, already a big problem, is poised to worsen under the reduction of investigators at the U.S. Dept. of Labor, finds a study coauthored by @ipratnu.bsky.social @polisciatnu.bsky.social prof Dan Galvin for the Workplace Justice Lab@Northwestern and @Rutgers.
www.yahoo.com/news/rutgers...

Rutgers study finds wage theft a greater risk as enforcement staff shrinks

Staffing levels at the federal labor offices handling minimum wage and overtime laws are at their lowest levels in decades, a Rutgers study found.

www.yahoo.com

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Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · Jun 13

Rounding up immigrant workers is not only wrong, it will do nothing to fix our broken labor markets or help US workers or consumers.
What will? Raising wages, improving working conditions and enforcing labor laws.
Our new study: smlr.rutgers.edu/sites/defaul...

smlr.rutgers.edu

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Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · May 29

5/ In sum: mass deportations won’t fix job degradation. If WHD and its state counterparts had the funding and tools to keep up with a growing workforce and widespread violations, millions of workers would benefit.

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Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · May 29

4/ WHD investigators are unevenly employed throughout the 50 states. In Delaware, Montana, Vermont, and Wyoming, WHD investigators must travel from out of state for investigations, as not a single WHD investigator lives within state lines.

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Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · May 29

3/ Despite the inadequate size of its staff, WHD recovered $273M in back wages & damages for nearly 152K workers in 2024. If the federal budget funded WHD operations on the scale it does immigration enforcement, the agency could recover more than $4 billion for workers each year.

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Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · May 29

2/ Between 1939-2025, the ratio of investigators at the Wage & Hour Division went from 1 per 18k workers... to 1 per 278k workers. Just 611 WHD investigators today cover 165M US workers. It’s impossible for the federal government to effectively enforce W&H protections like this!

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Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · May 29

1/ Want to help US workers? Enforce labor law, not deportation orders. Undocumented immigrants are not the problem. The problem is the govt’s inadequate response to structural shifts in the economy that undermine worker power. NEW REPORT: smlr.rutgers.edu/sites/defaul...

smlr.rutgers.edu

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Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · Mar 20

5/ The crisis is here. The response must be just as urgent. This isn't just about immigration. It’s about the future of democracy in the U.S. If we don’t act now, we know where this road leads.

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Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · Mar 20

4/ This is not a hypothetical. The infrastructure for American fascism is being built right now. The question is: How will we fight back? What happens when a government openly disregards the judiciary, due process, and constitutional rights?

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Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · Mar 20

3/ And this won’t stop here. We’ve already seen the administration disregard the constitutional rights of legal permanent residents (LPR), as in the case of Mahmoud Khalil. If they’ll ignore LPR rights, what’s stopping them from targeting citizens next?
action.aclu.org/send-message...

Free Mahmoud Khalil

The Trump administration has illegally arrested and detained Mahmoud Khalil in direct retaliation for his advocacy in support of Palestinian rights. This egregious, unprecedented, and illegal abuse of...

action.aclu.org

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Janice Fine @janicefinewjl.bsky.social · Mar 20

2/ This isn’t just cruelty—it’s lawlessness. The administration is openly defying judicial rulings. The constitutional crisis isn’t coming. It’s here. The rule of law is under attack on multiple fronts.

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