Making criminals of us all

It was a big scandal when more than 300 members of Wal-Mart's third-party cleaning crew were arrested in a crackdown on illegal aliens. Wal-Mart claimed no knowledge of the hiring practices of its contractors and escaped criminal prosecution by paying an $11m fine. In the CR, Škoda Auto has 3,400 contract workers on top of its 22,000 staff members. Contract workers allegedly receive part of their wages off the books, which could make Škoda - similar to Wal-Mart - an accessory to criminal behavior. Škoda is hardly alone, though. If all the workers in the CR who receive some form of off-the-books compensation walked off the job, as illegal aliens did this week in the U.S., the economy would suffer. Making an example of a major company won't solve the underlying problem of restrictive labor and tax laws that few employers or employees have much respect for. [Czech Republic illegal immigration]