Michael F. Sabitoni: I’m thrilled to see crackdown on bad R.I. businesses

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on
By Michael F. Sabitoni

Posted Sep. 18, 2015 at 2:01 AM

A $730,000 fine! That is what a construction subcontractor hanging drywall recently voluntarily agreed to pay to Rhode Island for misclassification and wage and hour violations on just one public works project.
According to the Sept. 1 news story “R.I. construction firm settles with DLT to pay more than $730,000 in back wages, penalties,” the subcontractor’s lawyer actually commended the owner of the company for coming “to the plate” and working “to make things right” rather than fleeing the country and/or filing bankruptcy. Wow, what an upstanding citizen!

When someone blatantly exploits workers in such an egregious way, we in the trades do not know how anyone could commend the perpetrator in any respect. The fact of the matter is the only reason this contractor is coming “to the plate” is not because of character, it is because of money and/or profits. It goes to show you how lucrative cheating is in the construction industry.

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CONSTRUCTION COMPANY FOREMAN SENTENCED FOR DEFRAUDING EMPLOYEES BY TAKING $330,000 IN WAGES FROM TWO PUBLIC WORKS CONTRACTS AND BURGLARIZING NEIGHBOR’S HOME

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 *Co-defendant in this case is scheduled for a preliminary hearing tomorrow

Date: March 23, 2015            Case # 13CF3959

SANTA ANA – A construction company foreman was convicted and sentenced Friday for defrauding employees of $330,000 in wages and keeping the money for himself from two public works contract. Antonio Naranjo Jr., 41, Costa Mesa, pleaded guilty Friday, March 20, 2015, to 11 felony counts of taking and receiving a portion of a worker’s wage on public works project and two felony counts of recording a false and forged instrument. He was sentenced to four years and six months in state prison. Naranjo Jr. is currently serving two years and eight months in state prison for a residential burglary conviction in 2012 (Case #12HF3186) and will now serve seven years and four months in state prison.

What is a “Public Work” Under California Law?

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Monday, February 16, 2015

by Richard E. Donahoo

 

 

Often workers are unsure whether the California project where they are working is a “public work” that requires their employer to pay them a minimum “prevailing wage” rate set by the State of California.

California Labor Code section 1720 defines a public work as:

“Construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work done under contract and paid for in whole or in part out of public funds . . . For purposes of this paragraph, “construction” includes work performed during the design and preconstruction phases of construction, including, but not limited to, inspection and land surveying work. For purposes of this paragraph, “installation” includes, but is not limited to, the assembly and disassembly of freestanding and affixed modular office systems.”

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Klein details ‘New Deal’ plan for windfall funds

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Josefa Velasquez
5:47 p.m. | Dec. 8, 2014

ALBANY-State Senator Jeff Klein, who leads the Independent Democratic Conference, has proposed a two-pronged program to use the state’s $5 billion windfall from bank settlements for a modern-day version of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Klein’s “New Deal for New York” would use part of the bank settlement money to create a new program called Empire Public Works, dedicated to upgrading the state’s infrastructure.

In an interview with Capital, Klein said the infrastructure projects in the program would be required to pay prevailing wages, which would apply to agencies like the M.T.A., housing authorities, and bridge and tunnel authorities, which don’t always pay prevailing wages.

“It’s money that I believe was stolen from the taxpayers from financial institutions accused of financial crimes against New Yorkers,” he said in a phone interview, adding, “It certainly makes sense that this infusion of cash go right back in to the pockets of hardworking New Yorkers.”

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Ordinance sets higher wages for city projects: San Mateo officials adopt rules for public works while encouraging private developers to adopt similar policies

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October 13, 2014, 05:00 AM – By Samantha Weigel – Daily Journal

As the cost of living rises along the Peninsula, those who work on San Mateo city public works projects will be guaranteed prevailing wages after the City Council approved an ordinance codifying existing policy and to adhere to state regulations.

To receive state funding, California’s newly enacted Labor Code section 1782 requires charter cites, such as San Mateo, to pay workers at least the state’s prevailing wage on public works projects, City Attorney Shawn Mason said.

The ordinance was approved last week but Councilman David Lim said the City Council has long strived to pay its employees prevailing wages and encourage private developers to do so as well.

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FORMER GENERAL CONTRACTOR SENTENCED TO TWO YEARS IN PRISON FOR DEFRAUDING EMPLOYEES BY TAKING $80,000 IN WAGES AND KEEPING MONEY FOR HIMSELF FROM PUBLIC WORKS CONTRACTS

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on
Orange County District Attorney
Press Release

September 25, 2014

SANTA ANA – A former general contractor was convicted and sentenced today for defrauding his employees by taking their wages totaling over $80,000 in loss and keeping the money for himself from a state public works contract. Sourin Babayan, 65, Glendale, pleaded guilty to the court to 17 felony counts of taking and receiving a portion of a worker’s wage on public works project and six felony counts of dissuading a witness from prosecuting a crime. He was sentenced to two years in state prison and ordered to pay $80,200 in restitution.

At the time of the crime, Babayan worked as a sub-contractor and owned SDB Construction (SDB). DJM Construction (DJM), a general contractor who was awarded a project by the State of California, for the improvement of a state developmental hospital in Costa Mesa.

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San Rafael’s red-light camera company nabbed by state for not paying prevailing wage

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San Rafael’s red-light cameras may be dark, but the city’s relationship with the provider isn’t over.

The city has been instructed by the state to withhold nearly $25,000 in payments to Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. of Phoenix, which serviced the city’s two cameras, because the company failed to pay its contractors prevailing wage when the equipment was installed in October 2009. Prevailing wage is the basic hourly rate paid to public works project employees as set by the state, ensuring contractors aren’t awarded projects based on paying lower wages than a competitor.

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Defender of the Prevailing Wage Act speaks up

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It has become accepted among several elected and politically appointed officials to spout how much better we would be without unions to hold us back. Recently, in Pennsylvania, there was a movement attempting to pass a resolution that would allow school districts and municipalities to exempt themselves from the Prevailing Wage Act of Aug. 15, 1961. The original Act was instituted to protect local wages and standards that were negotiated for the benefit of the territory that they covered. This Act standardized wages and benefits on public work projects, so out-of-state contractors could not, unfairly, underbid local contractors that support local worker

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Workers’ Pay Should Not Fund ABC Sham Labor Compliance Committee’s

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Anti-union contractors deduct earnings from workers’ paychecks. They use the money to fund committees that falsely claim to be about labor compliance, but actually exist solely to further the anti-union contractors’ political interests. Then they claim that expense as a fringe benefit to the worker, which they use to reduce the amount they are legally required to pay the worker under California’s prevailing wage law.

Unfortunately, a loophole in current law allows that deceptive and unfair scenario to happen. And the Associated Builders and Contractors (“ABC”) and their friends are all too happy to exploit it.

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Seven Contractors Fined for Prevailing Wage Violations

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The Labor Commission reported that the prime contractor, Valley Vanguard, is jointly and severally liable for all assessments issued against the six subcontractors.

“Valley Vanguard, as the prime contractor for the highway expansion project, is responsible for ensuring that all workers performing construction work on a public works project are paid the correct prevailing wage rates,” Su said.