Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown should be applauded for his recent prosecution and conviction of Jose Walter Marquez Rivera, an unscrupulous labor broker who schemed to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from his employees — paying them substantially less than the required prevailing wage for taxpayer-funded public projects — and to cheat the state of Maryland out of required employment taxes and withholdings.

Wage thieves like Marquez steal millions from taxpayers and their workers throughout the nation each year. The Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters commends Attorney General Brown for helping to rid our industry of these criminal elements and help level the playing field for law-abiding contractors, so they are not underbid by lawless operators like Marquez who illegally lower employee costs and receive a slush fund of ill-gotten profits.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, “Egregious violations of workers’ rights harm workers and communities, make it difficult for honest employers to compete, and deprive public coffers of money needed for critical safety net programs. Prosecutors engaged in workers’ rights issues should continue to build on this work, and more offices should join the effort.”

Unfortunately, the prosecution of Marquez barely scratches the surface of construction industry fraud and there is still more work to be done. While we commend Brown for his efforts to bring Marquez to justice, we would be remiss if we did not also highlight and commend the anti-wage theft work of Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb. Schwalb is on a mission to clean up the construction industry, having initiated more than a dozen construction industry wage theft cases since taking office less than two years ago.

Throughout the nation, thousands of construction industry tax cheats fail to pay their workers fair living wages and rarely provide medical coverage, while also failing to pay federal, state, and local taxes, overtime, and workers’ compensation benefits. These reduced costs give them a tremendously competitive advantage in bidding on public and private jobs, against law-abiding contractors who pay all required employee-related costs.

A 2017 study of the 10 most populous states cited by the Economic Policy Institute found “2.4 million workers, or 17% of the low-wage workforce in these states, reported being paid less than the applicable minimum wage.” And, a 2020 study from the Washington Center for Equitable Growth found that Black, Latinx, noncitizen and women workers suffer higher rates of wage theft.

Additionally, a 2020 study by researchers from Harvard University, Michigan State University and Allegheny College found that federal, state and local governments lose an estimated $8.4 billion a year in tax revenue from payroll fraud. According to the study, more and more contractors are employing labor brokers who pay their workers under the table and keep them off the books — failing to pay and report correct payroll numbers to taxing authorities and insurance officials. There are as many as 2.16 million construction workers in the United States who are misclassified as “independent contractors” when in reality they are employees.

Aside from the dramatic financial impact to our federal treasury, state and local governments throughout the country lose millions each year when construction and other companies pay their workers off the books, intentionally misclassify them as “independent contractors” or outright steal their wages.

Fighting worker exploitation and prosecuting wanton wage theft offenders must be a priority for attorneys general everywhere. We call upon attorneys general throughout our region — and throughout the country — to step up to the plate and make prosecution of wage theft and other employer crimes against workers a top priority.

William C. Sproule is executive secretary-treasurer of the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters.