March 4, 2009 at 8 pm through Friday, March 6 at noon

"Together, we can be effective advocates for the poor and for working men and women, guaranteeing that the success achieved by labor during the past century
does not become a victim of the market forces in our global economy
or the pure arrogance and greed of a privileged few."
- Bishop Howard Hubbard, Co-Chair,
Labor-Religion Coalition

"WHEN A WORKER'S SALARY IS LIGHTER: Many employees are involved in wage theft, an unspokem nationwide crime wave," by Kim Bobo and Brian O'Shaughnessy. Perspective section, Sunday, Times Union, Albany, NY, March 29, 2009.

Media coverage of the 2009 40-Hour FAST:
Albany Times Union, "Help wanted: Long hours, no pay"
Legislative Gazette, "Fast calls attention to wage theft" [go to p. 18 of issue as PDF]
New York Teacher, "Labor must take stand against wage theft"
CSEA Workforce, cover and article, "Wage theft: It's a bigger problem than you might think!"

Goals of the FAST were threefold:

• To SACRIFICE from food so that moral and spiritual connections are deepened. The giving up of such a basic human need as food, if only for a few meals, can re-focus one’s priorities on the importance of the common good of all.

• To PRAY for public officials as they make the difficult budgetary, policy and regulatory choices that every day affect lives.

• To COMMUNICATE with the public and co-workers and elected officials about why you are fasting and why you believe that the common good requires an end to wage theft, a shrinking of the wage gap and increased attention to “the least among us.” Read more on this theme.

Click on these links for more information: news release, PDF versions of the FAST brochure (poster and half poster), more about fasting, prayers, statewide events, wage theft and farmworker justice.