While dozens of companies along the U.S. border in California hire workers from Mexico to labor as warehouse and logistics workers in scores of non-descript buildings, U.S. Department of Labor investigators and attorneys are also working hard – to prevent the exploitation of these workers and hold employers accountable.

Since a landmark investigation of Premar Global Warehouse Logistics in September 2021, Wage and Hour Division investigators have found three more San Diego-area customs warehouses paying workers in Mexican pesos at an equivalent rate of as little as $2.50 per hour in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Based on these investigations, the department’s Office of the Solicitor reached consent judgments against the three employers – Columbia Export Group PDSA, OMG Global Logistics, and Atlas Freight Forwarding – resulting in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California ordering the companies to pay nearly $2 million combined in minimum and overtime back wages to 108 workers.

To learn more, read “Working for $2.50 per hour: US Department of Labor’s crackdown on grossly exploitive, abusive pay practices in San Diego continues” from the U.S. Department of Labor.