Our purpose as elected officials is to make sure that Minneapolis is a great place to live, work and do business. We know that's true for many of us but not all — our city and state have persistent, structural inequities that continue to this day, and it is our collective obligation to undo them.

We authored an ordinance to prevent wage theft because we know such practices are a serious problem in Minneapolis and perpetuate racial disparities. Between 2005 and 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor found more than 5,500 violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act by employers in Minneapolis. These violations totaled more than $2.7 million in unpaid wages.

Because these are only found when workers take the time and risk to come forward and make a complaint, which can take many months to investigate, we believe that number is just a drop in the bucket. A national study by the Economic Policy Institute in 2017 found that workers recovered $2 billion in stolen wages in 2015 and 2016 alone, and it estimates that total losses are more likely about 25 times as high, at $50 billion annually.

We are pleased that the state is investing additional resources into its own enforcement, and we intend to amplify those efforts by allowing city staff to field complaints as well. We have existing infrastructure at the city to deal with issues locally.

Passing this ordinance will allow us to coordinate education efforts with the state and codify a working relationship to make sure our combined enforcement capacity is as efficient and effective as possible.

One reason it is so hard to accurately capture the magnitude of wage theft is because workers — especially low-wage workers of color — face a significant risk of retaliation if they confront employers about a theft or file a complaint. Retaliation can take many forms: In addition to firing or demotion, employers may reduce a worker's hours or adversely change schedules, unfairly target a worker for other discipline, or use other forms of harassment. Undocumented workers face the additional threat of a report to immigration authorities or other forms of labor trafficking.

Contrary to arguments cited in an Aug. 7 editorial ("Mpls. doesn't need new wage-theft rules") that the new state law should first be given a chance to work, that law does not adequately protect workers from such retaliation, and that is why we are proposing to require that employers show evidence that any adverse job action taken after a wage-theft complaint is not retaliatory.

The goals and components of this ordinance were proposed by our Workplace Advisory Committee, which is composed of representatives of small and large businesses side-by-side with workers and labor advocates to advise the City Council and mayor. The members of this committee spent the last 18 months developing this proposal and have continued to provide valuable input and feedback every step of the way.

Since we introduced a draft of the ordinance, we have continued to engage with businesses across the city, and the ordinance is better for it. Subsequent drafts have incorporated changes to address concerns about businesses' ability to correct overpayments and provide notices and collect signatures electronically. We further amended it after feedback at a public hearing to ensure that businesses will not face redundant or compounding fines and to reduce the need for additional record-keeping in some situations.

We believe that this ordinance and the way in which it was developed — starting with an advisory committee and responding to specific feedback in real time — should serve as a model for future work. Our work to make Minneapolis a more equitable city is unfinished and will continue. Preventing future theft of wages earned and making sure everyone gets paid for the work they do will get us one step closer.

Linea Palmisano, Steve Fletcher and Phillipe Cunningham are members of the Minneapolis City Council.