By Jordan Grice
Published 12:00 am EST,
Sunday, December 16, 2018
Construction workers building Bridgeport’s new concert amphitheater say they are being stiffed on their paychecks, and the Department of Labor agrees with them.
In a letter to the city’s economic development department, state labor officials said the contracting agency of the Harbor Yard Amphitheater – which according to the project contract is developer Howard Saffan – broke the law by not applying prevailing wage requirements when putting the project out to bid.
Saffan did not return several calls for comment.
The prevailing wage statute provides contractors for large-scale projects involving public funding with an assigned wage rate and scheduled payroll.
Bridgeport and developer Howard Saffan are splitting the amphitheater’s $15 million price tag.
That wasn’t the case when construction of the concert venue got started, according to the letter from the DOL, which stated that developers and the city failed to request a prevailing wage pay rate schedule or include it in the bid specifications.
“Looks like a 50-50 relationship; what you just read fits the classic definition of a public works project. Public funds are in place, it’s a public project that will benefit the public,” said Thomas Wydra, director of the Wage and Workplace Standards Division for the state Department of Labor
Both city official and developers should have been aware of the law, Wydra said.