Wage theft has cost more at least $9.2 billion in penalties just in cases that are publicly disclosed since 2000. An additional 127 cases were identified involving 89 different companies with sealed settlements. Which is to say nothing of the instances were wage theft continues unfettered without the intervention of the courts, particularly since the phenomenon largely affects working class communities and communities of color, to say nothing of undocumented workers. Collective bargaining and collective worker action is the only way to prevent this exploitation and abuse from continuing. This is why we need Bernie Sanders' Workplace Democracy Act