In March 2014, the Dallas Morning news reported on the success that has followed the Texas construction industry. As of 2014 it ranked fifth nationally, boosting Texas’ economy so much that it has become one of the best state economies in the country. The construction industry in Texas depends on over 900,000 workers, and many are cheated out of sharing the benefits of the economy.

In 2013, the Workers’ Defense Project released a study in which they reported that more than one in five workers in construction has been denied pay. The study, titled “Build a Better Texas,” reports that fifty percent of construction workers have never been paid overtime even though they work as much as 80 hours a week. More than fifty percent of workers earn poverty level wages

Not only is the industry booming as construction workers in Texas are paid poorly, the industry has also been one of the most dangerous in the country. More people die in Texas construction than in any other construction industries in almost any other state. Texas workers have reported that one in five have had injuries on the job that required medical attention. An outstanding fifty percent of workers have reported that they never received basic safety training and the WDP researches reported that at almost every construction site they visited, they discovered numerous safety violations.

The Rio Grande Valley has seen significant growth in the last number of years, a lot of it tied to the construction industry. Any resident that has lived here for ten years or longer can tell you that the RGV has constant new businesses setting up shop, implying major construction projects.. It’s astonishing that the majority of cases reported to the Fuerza del Valle Workers’ Center are claims where workers are denied payment in some form of another in an industry where millions are spent. When contractors are approached about the problem, the blame has always been handed to the contractor ahead or below them in the chain of command, all while RGV construction workers are left out in the cold needing to support themselves and their families.

This May Day, we call upon Fuerza del Valle members and supporters to come out and join the Two Mile March for Justice in the Construction Industry to the Paseo Points Apartments in Los Fresnos, TX in an act of solidarity with workers who are owed over $12,000 in unpaid wages. May Day has always been an international day of solidarity and celebration for working families, and some of our most important, yet most exploited workers have always been construction workers.

We will let Galaxy Builders Ltd., the general contractor; Manish Verma, owner of the partments; and Pete Coronado, subcontractor know that no longer will we tolerate unfair labor practices, especially when the sites is partially subsidized by the federal government through Housing and Urban Developemnt.

Wage theft is a dire problem society as a whole must take on and not ignore Construction workers like domestic workers, restaurant workers, agricultural workers, and other service industry workers enable society to function.

This May First, stand in solidarity with construction workers, working families, and people on the front lines fighting labor exploitation in the Rio Grande Valley. Join Fuerza del Valle Workers’ Center and the community in the struggle for workers’ justice. Talk to a friend and let them know that wage theft is widespread practice in the RGV, and in the construction industry. Follow Fuerza del Valle Workers’ Center on Facebook and Twitter, or email fuerzadevalle@gmail.com to keep up with the struggle for justice for working families.