Taking a Bigger Bite out of Wage Theft in the Garden State

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Two central New Jersey towns are attempting to crack down on employers who illegally withhold wages from workers — tying local business licenses to compliance with state wage laws.

The new rules, adopted by New Brunswick in December and Princeton on Monday, give the towns the ability to refuse to renew the license of businesses that have been found guilty either in court or by the state Department of Labor of wage theft — not paying for all hours worked, not paying at least the minimum wage, or not paying overtime.

Activists who helped craft the local ordinances say they could be a model for other communities and are reaching out to expand the wage-theft provisions to other towns. They also hope the local efforts can spur action on a state bill — A1317 — that would make it easier for workers to file wage-theft claims and would increase penalties on those convicted of wage theft.

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California Truck Drivers Go On Indefinite Strike

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More than 120 truck drivers who haul consumer goods from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to retail warehouses launched an indefinite strike on Monday, according to MSNBC, escalating a tumultuous multi-year union organizing effort among the drivers. The consumer brands whose supplies could be affected by the strikes include Skechers shoes, Ralph Lauren, Walmart, and Home Depot, according to a press release from strike organizers.

The core complaint underlying the union drive is that companies like Total Transportation Services, Inc. (TTSI), Green Fleet Systems, and Pacific 9 Transportation deem their drivers “independent contractors” in order to avoid paying overtime and prevent their workers from enjoying various other labor law protections. The drivers say they are misclassified and should be treated as full employees, and have begun to flood the California Labor Commission with wage theft complaints in order to fight the misclassification and seek the pay that the “independent contractor” label has cost them over the years.

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Conn. Contractor Cited by US Labor Department’s OSHA for Wall Collapse, Fall Hazards at Construction Work Site

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IRVINE – An Irvine construction company owner and his foreman pleaded not guilty Monday after authorities charged that they committed multiple acts of payroll fraud.
Mustafa Mohamed Bdaiwi, 41, of Irvine and Antonio Naranjo Jr., 40, of Costa Mesa have been charged with 11 counts of taking a portion of a employee’s wages, two felony counts of recording false or forged documents and sentencing enhancements for property loss more than $150,000, according to court records.
Bdaiwi, who owns Malcon Civils Inc., was awarded a contract from the city of Irvine to build a wall at an elementary school in late 2010, prosecutors said. Authorities said around the same time the company was also awarded a project by the city of Hemet.During these two projects, which took place from January to August 2011, Bdaiwi and Naranjo are accused of requiring workers to return a portion of their wages. Naranjo is suspected of threatening to fire the workers who did not comply, prosecutors said.

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Demolition Company Operators Sentenced In Manhattan Federal Court For Scheme To Underpay Employees In Violation Of Federal Prevailing Wage Law

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Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JOVER NARANJO, the owner and president of Enviro & Demo Masters, Inc. (“Enviro”), and LUPERIO NARANJO, SR., a foreman for Enviro, were sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to six and four years in prison, respectively, for perpetrating a scheme to underpay employees in violation of the federal prevailing wage law and for tampering with witnesses and using other people’s identities to further this scheme. Both defendants were convicted in November 2013 after a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who imposed today’s sentences.

 

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “Today’s sentences ensure Jover Naranjo and Luperio Naranjo, Sr., will pay a steep price for underpaying their staff, abusing federal funds, and then lying to cover it all up – loss of their liberty.”

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American Waste Services workers locked in ‘wage-theft’ conflict

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By KAREN LEE ZINER

Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE – For six years, Enrique Sarceno worked on a garbage truck, emptying 30-gallon barrels on a municipal route in Franklin, Mass. At day’s end, Sarceno would strip off his rank-smelling clothes and head for the shower.

He thought the money was good – $17 an hour. But when the former American Waste Services company, in Raynham, hired him, Sarceno knew nothing of the Massachusetts prevailing wage law under which he would have been paid at least $5 more per hour.

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