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Hennepin County’s first labor-trafficking case ends in guilty plea (MN)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Prosecutors say they’re keeping tabs on other cases in the construction industry where contractors are exploiting immigrant workers

Riham Feshir
Minneapolis
November 18, 2019 7:40 p.m

A Twin Cities contractor accused of exploiting immigrant workers was supposed to face criminal charges in a first-of-its-kind trial in Hennepin County this week.

But Ricardo Batres instead pleaded guilty Monday to labor trafficking, and prosecutors say other cases in the construction industry are coming.

Batres, 47, admitted he took advantage of employees’ federal immigration status to force them to work for him. In one case, he bailed one of his workers out of immigration custody, but told him the man would need to pay off his debt. He also he lied on his workers compensation insurance papers to save money.

Batres took the deal, pleading guilty to labor trafficking and insurance fraud, after acknowledging that the evidence against him was strong.

“The insurance fraud and other things are not very good things,” said Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman after the hearing. “But what’s really bad is when you’re trafficking in human beings.”

Batres’ case marked the first time his office prosecuted someone under the state’s labor trafficking statute. But it won’t be the last, Freeman said.

“We are looking at other cases now,” he said. “We spent most of our time and energy, all of us, making sure this one worked. The industry is watching for a change, and they don’t like this. It makes the industry look bad.”

(Read More)

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Minnesota Building Trades Announce Plans to Fight Wage Theft, Exploitation, Labor Trafficking (MN)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Filiberto Nolasco Gomez
Workday Minnesota
July 26, 2019

BRAINERD
Leaders of 14 unions that represent Minnesota’s unionized construction workforce Thursday announced the launch of a new initiative to combat wage theft, exploitation, and labor trafficking, which they say pose a growing threat to the welfare of immigrant workers and the health of the state’s construction industry.

The Not On My Watch campaign will enlist union staff and rank-and-file members in efforts to identify cases of abuse, and to assist exploited construction workers. Union construction workers will be asked to wear hard-hat stickers that read “Not On My Watch” or “Ya No Mas” and participate in job-site actions to show solidarity with immigrant construction workers who may be vulnerable to exploitation by unscrupulous contractors.

“This initiative is about ensuring that no construction workers in our state are exploited and that all contractors are held accountable to the law,” said Jessica Looman, Executive Director of the Minnesota State Building and Construction Trades Council, “In Minnesota, workers stand-up for workers.”

Union members and nonunion workers joined forces last month at a rally to protest allegations of wage theft by immigrant concrete workers building the Digi-Key Expansion Project in Thief River Falls, Minnesota that was widely covered on TV and in print. A second major rally is planned for downtown Minneapolis on Monday, July 29, immediately before a Minneapolis City Council hearing on a proposed wage theft ordinance.

Minnesota Building Trades leaders were joined at the unveiling of their wage theft initiative by Attorney General Keith Ellison welcomed the announcement.

“Wage theft is theft, pure and simple. Not only does it rob workers of their ability to afford their lives, it robs them of their dignity,” Attorney General Ellison said. “It’s also often the canary in the coal mine for other serious abuses, like denial of healthcare and human trafficking, which we’ve seen right here in Minnesota. I’m proud that our new law against wage theft is the strongest in the country, but we in government can’t fight it alone. That’s why I’m grateful for the ‘Not On My Watch’ and ‘Ya No Más’ campaigns. It’s powerful that workers themselves will be on the front lines in helping us fight wage theft and helping all workers afford their lives and live with dignity and respect.”

Nancy Leppink, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry also welcomed the announcement. “The State of Minnesota is committed to combating wage theft, but we can’t do it alone,” said Commissioner Leppink. “We will need the help of labor, community leaders, responsible employers, and of course workers themselves, to make sure workers know their rights and can bring abuses to light.”

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San Jose High-Rise Contractor Pays $250,000 Over Alleged Wage Theft, Labor Trafficking (CA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

by Dominoe Ibarra
July 23rd, 2018

The builder of a downtown San Jose apartment tower shelled out $250,000 to workers to settle labor violations alleged by federal investigators. Full Power Properties LLC-the builder that succeeded KT Urban on the the 650-unit Silvery Towers project-owed the money to 22 workers, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced last week.

Investigators found that Full Power Properties profited off underpaid workers employed by Job Torres, a subcontractor doing business as Nobilis Construction. During off hours, those workers lived in captivity, in a squalid warehouse run by Torres.

Acting on a tip that Hayward-based Nobilis Construction used undocumented workers as slaves, agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security served search warrants at multiple sites in August of 2017, took Torres into federal custody and referred the case to the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division.

Investigators say they found that Torres kept workers in a cramped second-story loft hidden behind a wall, with wood bunks and no running water. Torres allegedly locked the door from the outside, which led investigators to conclude that the workers were being held against their will.

According to the feds, Torres smuggled workers in from Mexico and would threaten them into submission by mentioning to anyone who complained that he knew people from drug cartels. The construction boss allegedly collected contact information for each worker’s family “in case of emergency,” so he knew where their loved ones lived.

There were signs of trouble long before federal investigators began looking into claims of forced labor in February of 2017. Silvery Towers developer KT Urban, which enjoyed tax breaks from the city to incentivize the project, came under fire in 2016 for hiring non-union workers, prompting a series of protests by local labor unions.

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