Testimony at MN Capitol underscores need for stronger wage theft laws (MN)

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By Howard Kling, Workday Minnesota – February 12, 2019

MINNEAPOLIS/SAINT PAUL – Workers and business owners highlighted the need for stronger wage theft laws during a press conference and legislative hearing at the Minnesota Capitol on February 6. The hearing before the Minnesota House Labor Committee was the first stop for HF6, a bipartisan bill that would set rules and penalties for employers who avoid paying, or fail to pay, wages earned by their employees.

“I am here today to demand an end to this practice of wage theft,” said Humberto Miceli, a member of Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL). With the help of CTUL, Miceli was able to recover wages stolen by an employer, but in the end he received only 10% of what he was owed. “It is real people who suffer the consequences the way things are right now,” added Miceli.

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Based on complaints filed with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (MNDLI), an estimated 39,000 Minnesota workers are not paid what is owed to them in earned wages each year. In 2015, the last year data was compiled, the Department recovered $1.3 million in back wages for Minnesota workers. MNDLI, as well as labor and community organizations, maintain the scope of the problem is much larger since most workers don’t report wage theft violations, many out of fear of retaliation from their employer.

“There are no repercussions for some of the worst offenses that we see in the construction industry and I am here today hoping legislators support HF6,” said Arturo Hernandez, a journeyman carpenter with Carpenters Local 68. “If I stole money from my boss at work, I would go to prison.”

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House members introduce bill to raise NC’s minimum wage, improve worker rights and incomes (NC)

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By Rob Schofield – February 12, 2019

… State Representatives Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford) and Susan Fisher (D-Buncombe)  introduced some long overdue legislation yesterday to dramatically improve the treatment of workers in North Carolina. House Bill 46- the “Economic Security Act of 2019” – would make the following changes to state law:

  • it would increase the state minimum wage to $15 per hour over five years;
  • it would add North Carolina to the list of states that guarantee pay equity bay barring employers from paying employees of one gender less than employees of another gender for the same work;
  • it would require employers to provide workers with paid sick days and family medical leave (with some exemptions for small employers);
  • it would increase the tipped minimum wage;
  • it would enact new protections against “wage theft” by employers;
  • it would enact new “ban the box” protections to bar employers from inquiring into the criminal history of job applicants on initial application forms;
  • it would repeal the state’s ban on collective bargaining by public employees;
  • it would reinstate the state earned income tax credit and state child care tax credit.

Needless to say, the measure faces an uphill battle in the GOP-led General Assembly, but if there was ever a bill around which North Carolina working families could and should rally in 2019 and beyond, this is it.

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Construction industry, unions duel over state prevailing wage bill (NH)

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NH Senate measure targets all state public works projects

BY BOB SANDERS – Published: February 13, 2019

A measure under consideration in the NH Senate would require contractors on state public works projects to pay the prevailing wage to workers, but it’s not the wages – it’s the benefits and paperwork that concerned several New Hampshire contractors speaking at a hearing Tuesday before the NH Senate Commerce Committee.

Several trade union representatives at the hearing countered that Senate Bill 271 is really not aimed at local contractors, but those outside New Hampshire, drawn here because it is the only New England state without prevailing wage requirements. (Some 24 states don’t have such laws, although the closest one to New Hampshire without one is in Virginia)

“At the end of the day, tax dollars of Granite Staters should go to local workers and local companies,” said Sen. Dan Feltes, D-Concord, the bill’s prime sponsor.

Feltes cited a 2016 study about the benefits of a prevailing wage: At least $300 million in economic activity resulting in some 1,700 jobs and tax revenues of 7.3 percent.

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But union representatives said that the lack of a prevailing wage makes New Hampshire a magnet for out-of-state contractors that do pay both lower wages and benefits, often using undocumented immigrant labor, “and it undercuts our local contractors,” said Denis R. Beaudoin, business manager of IBEW Local 490, the electricians’ union. The construction industry has only replaced 2,000 of the 9,000 jobs it lost during the recession, he said, adding: “How can we justify the work going out of state?”
And while contractors testified that they offer health benefits, they don’t match other union benefits, like an apprentice program, said David Pelletier, business manager of UA Local 131, the plumbers and pipefitters union.

“Unions do provide more benefits than open shops,” acknowledged Abbott. One business did back the prevailing wage bill: American Income Life, a Londonderry insurance firm.

Kris Thieme, an agent from the company, countered contractors’ claim that a prevailing wage would drive up construction costs. He said soft costs, like engineering and architecture, were a bigger factor than labor. Besides, he said, if workers don’t have good benefits or wages, they would be more likely to receive state subsidies for healthcare, which would be passed on to taxpayers.

SB 271 would only apply to state projects, not municipal or school construction jobs, but the NH Municipal Association was concerned that the language wasn’t clear enough on that matter, since many local projects involved state funding.


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Toms River Wants To Hire More Locally (NJ)

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By Chris Lundy – January 31, 2019

TOMS RIVER – The Township Council passed a project labor agreement that would ensure that a majority of future contractors on large jobs would be local.

The point of a project labor agreement is to set some rules for a project before it even gets to the draft stage. The resolution authorizing them said that these agreements “lead to less disputes, delays,” as well as “fair and agreed to employment terms and more efficient project management.”

The resolution does not lay out all of the details of the agreement, but business administrator Don Guardian said that it will be similar to the one drafted by the school district in advance of the referendum to rebuild the schools, in that it would require 88 percent of workers to be local.

He said that the $5 million figure was chosen “since smaller projects may not require the expertise and professionalism that prevailing wage brings to the table.”


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Attorney General James Announces Guilty Pleas of Valley Stream Construction Contractors for Failing to Pay Workers (NY)

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Vickram and Gayatri Mangru, Owners Of Vick Construction and AVM Construction Corp., Pleaded Guilty to Failure To Pay Prevailing Wages On Construction Work at Several New York City Public Schools.

BY LONG ISLAND NEWS & PR PUBLISHED: FEBRUARY 12 2019

New York, NY – February 12, 2019 – Attorney General Letitia James today announced the guilty pleas of Vickram Mangru, his wife Gayatri Mangru, and AVM Construction Corp., of Valley Stream, NY, for failing to pay proper prevailing wages to workers and falsifying business records related to a publicly-funded New York City construction project. The defendants were charged with failing to pay three workers their required prevailing and overtime wages, as well as supplemental benefits from December 2012 through February 2015. The defendants unlawfully falsified payroll records to conceal their crimes, and thereby stole more than $280,000 from three workers. In October 2017, a Bronx County Grand Jury returned an indictment charging the defendants with two counts of Failure to Pay Prevailing Wages and Benefits and two counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree.

“Intentionally underpaying workers is both highly illegal and immoral,” said Attorney General Letitia James. “Not only did the defendants take advantage of innocent workers trying to earn a living, they also took advantage of New York City by falsifying records to the Department of Education. This office will never hesitate to investigate any employer who tries to cheat our workers or our government.” 

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In addition, all defendants will be barred from bidding on or being awarded any public works contract in the State of New York for a period of five (5) years.    

“An honest days work deserves an honest days pay and when employers cheat workers from the wages they rightfully earned, regardless of their status,  it’s labor abuse at its worst,” said New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer. “Despite being debarred, this unscrupulous contractor attempted to use his wife’s name to open a company and take advantage of immigrant workers by withholding their prevailing wages yet again – now he is facing the consequences of his actions. I would like to thank the Attorney General for working side by side with my office to prosecute this contractor and bring justice to the workers who are owed their fair share.” 


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Wage theft is criminal and should be prosecuted, Tompkins DA says (NY)

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FEBRUARY 6, 2019BY DEVON MAGLIOZZI

ITHACA, N.Y. – Employers fail to pay tens of thousands of dollars owed to Tompkins workers each year, according to a panel of experts and advocates organized by the Tompkins County Workers’ Center and the Worker Institute at Cornell’s ILR School.

Part of the reason the problem is so widespread is that penalties for carrying out wage theft are civil. Employers who fail to pay minimum wage, deny overtime pay, or misclassify workers to lower compensation might decide the risk is worth taking if the main penalty on the table is repayment of wages owed or a fine, panelists at Tuesday’s “How to Fight Wage Theft” event said. But through partnerships between labor organizations, state agencies and prosecutors, enforcement may start to look tougher in New York.

Asked whether wage theft is criminal, Matthew Van Houten, Tompkins County district attorney, answered unequivocally. “Yes – it is criminal, it should be criminalized, it should be prosecuted.”

Speaking on Tuesday’s panel, Van Houten said in over 20 years of work as an attorney in Tompkins County he has never seen a case of wage theft prosecuted in a criminal courtroom. But that doesn’t mean it’s not happening. The Workers’ Center recently said it handles between 80 and 100 cases of wage theft every year, and that only scratches the surface of what is happening in the community.

Typically, when a worker is not paid the wages they are owed their complaint is processed through agencies including the Department of Labor and National Labor Relations Board, often with advocacy centers like the Tompkins County Workers’ Center serving as intermediaries.

Civil enforcement can be a powerful tool for protecting workers’ rights. According to Milan Bhatt, assistant deputy commissioner for worker protection for the NYS DOL, his agency has recovered more than $35 million in unpaid wages each of the past four years across the state. Bhatt said the sums recovered by the DOL, though, are a fraction of total wages owed to workers.


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City Looks to Pay Off Undocumented Workers Cheated by Contractors (NY)

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BY JEANINE RAMIREZ 
PUBLISHED 8:14 AM ET JAN. 25, 2019

An asbestos abatement contractor using a Cropsey Avenue address in Brooklyn is one of more than 50 companies banned from doing city-funded work for allegedly underpaying workers.

“The reason these workers are cheated is because there is a feeling with some of these contractors that you can get away with that because the workers are immigrants or they may appear vulnerable,” City Comptroller Scott Stringer said.

Most of the companies did construction work or provided building services under city contracts.

Comptroller Scott Stringer says his office already has recovered $12 million from the companies for 1,500 people who suffered wage theft.

But Stringer says he’s recovered an additional $2.5 million that still must be distributed.Stringer added, “We want to locate the other 1,500 workers who were scammed and lost their wages. They’re out there. They’re out there in our boroughs. They could be around the corner.”

Many of the workers cheated by city contractors are immigrants. Stringer’s office cited the case of one man who eventually left the city and returned to Ecuador, where he was contacted and provided with his back pay.

“We had great news for him, we had the opportunity to send him a lot of checks with a significant amount of money that he received in Ecuador,” said Linda Machuca, Consul General of Ecuador in NY.

The cheated workers receive back pay plus interest, regardless of their immigration status. Immigrant rights groups and consulates are working with the city to locate some of those owed money. Officials say undocumented immigrants who receive wage awards will not be reported to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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Construction workers rally for unpaid wages (TN)

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Posted: 8:21 PM, Feb 05, 2019

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) – Construction workers and Metro Council Members gathered at the steps of the Historic Metro Courthouse Tuesday night, denouncing what they call “legal attacks” made by general contractor Skanska.

Workers who helped build the J.W. Marriott in downtown Nashville are part of an ongoing labor dispute against two drywall subcontractors hired by Skanska, a company currently building the Fifth + Broadway development downtown. At least one hundred workers say they are still owed two weeks worth of pay.

Advocates say a group of affected workers and community supporters visited Skanska’s offices in December, and were promised a follow up meeting.

But days later, advocates say names of some of the workers appeared in counter-lawsuit against their original mechanic’s liens claims.

“We believe that in our city all workers deserve good working conditions and it is our duty to ensure that their rights are upheld, protected, and that we in this city start creating more and more enforcement mechanisms to do exactly that,” said Metro Council member Fabian Bedne.

Cesar Ramirez, an affected J.W. Marriott worker, said: “We won’t stop until justice is made here, we feel betrayed that after giving [Skanska regional Vice President Dennis Georgatos] the benefit of the doubt, and believing that Skanska truly wanted a positive resolution, what we got in return, was one more attack in court.”

Workers and community supporters are demanding back pay from Skanska, and for the company to drop their counter-suit.


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Bill aimed at “wage and benefit theft” has public hearing (WA)

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SARA GENTZLER   FEBRUARY 4, 2019

The House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee last week heard testimony on a bill that would add the ways workers in Washington’s construction industry can take action if they don’t get paid.

The bill is meant to address “wage and benefit theft,” which can arise in home remodels and construction projects where a general contractor hires subcontractors, who hire workers. The “theft” occurs when a worker doesn’t get paid by the subcontractor who hired them.

The committee heard public testimony on the bill last week.

Evelyn Shapiro, principal officer for the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters, talked in her testimony about workers who have been threatened at gunpoint after asking for wages and sent to Immigration and Customs Enforcement after completing a job.

The impact of unpaid wages can also ripple out, Shapiro explained after the hearing, leading to “billions of dollars in unrecovered taxes and premiums” and creating a difficult environment for contractors who play by the rules.

“The contractors who follow the law have no ability to build on an even playing field when they are underbid constantly by other contractors who are underbidding them by as much as 30 percent,” Shapiro said. “We feel that not only does it hurt workers, it hurts our infrastructure, it hurts our social systems.”

If workers aren’t paid by the subcontractors who hire them, they currently have two options for trying to recover their missing wages. They can:

  • Go through Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries, which investigates the claim and can order the employer to pay, then collect wages plus interest; or
  • Take the case to civil court.

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W.Va. judge strikes down key portions of right-to-work law (WV)

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BY JOHN RABY – ASSOCIATED PRESS
FEBRUARY 27, 2019 11:07 PM

CHARLESTON, W.VA.
A judge on Wednesday sided with labor unions in striking down key portions of West Virginia’s so-called right-to-work law, including those that allowed workers to stop paying union dues.

Kanawha County Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey made the ruling in a lawsuit filed by the state chapter of the AFL-CIO and other unions. The judge said some provisions of the 2016 law violated the state constitution.

Labor unions maintained the law illegally took their assets since they still have to represent all employees in a union shop, including those that the law would allow to stop paying union dues.

Bailey struck down provisions that would authorize union employees to stop paying dues and fees or, in lieu of that, make payments to a charity or third party.

The new law would have required unions and union officials “to work, to supply their valuable expertise, and to provide expensive services for nothing,” Bailey wrote.

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West Virginia AFL-CIO President Josh Sword said Bailey “was right-on with her ruling. We entered into this lengthy legal challenge nearly three years ago because we knew the law violated of the rights of West Virginia workers – and we simply won’t stand for that.”

Curtis Johnson, a spokesman for West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, said Morrisey’s office is reviewing the circuit court’s decision

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