By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
The Princeton Council passed a measure Monday designed to protect illegal immigrants and other low-wage workers from having their wages stolen by landscaping companies.
In an ordinance requiring landscapers to register with the town, provisions also say landscapers have to acknowledge that they had received or been offered copies of the state and federal wage and hour laws and state workers compensation laws. Any landscaper found guilty of wage theft could be barred from working in Princeton.
The council adopted the ordinance 5-0, with Mayor Liz Lempert saying the community was "putting our values" in its ordinances.
"We are our laws," she said.
Councilwoman Heather H. Howard, a major advocate of the measure, said during the meeting that the aim is to prevent wage theft, what she called a "pernicious practice."
Ms. Howard said the town would look to apply the same regulations to other industries in town.
The town has used the power of the government to get involved and recover wages that were not paid to an employee. Officials have said the anti-wage theft rules would even protect employees working under the table, an illegal practice.
At the meeting, some audience members — speaking Spanish and talking through municipal human services director Elisa Neira who interpreted — thanked officials for the steps they were taking.
One man said he had been the victim of wage theft, while one woman said illegal immigrants have rights. Town officials at the meeting clapped for the Spanish-speaking residents after each was done speaking at the microphone during public comment.
New Brunswick, also home to a large number of illegal immigrants, is the only other town in New Jersey with wage theft protection.
Ross Wishnick, chairman of the municipal human services commission, where the ordinance originated, said at the meeting that wage theft is a nationwide problem that affects low-wage earners.
