Wage Theft in Downtown Worcester AGAIN! (MA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

15 Jan, 2019
in Uncategorized by Kevin

This just isn’t right. Why are we seeing wage theft in downtown Worcester AGAIN! Worcester is in a renaissance we’re told, but many of the carpenters who are building the new Worcester continue to be victims of illegal business practices on high profile projects.

The stolen wages occurred at the historic Central Building at 332 Main St. This is a publicly supported project that has millions of dollars in public assistance. A partial listing of funding as recorded by the Worcester Telegram and Gazette begins, “MassHousing is providing a $3.7 million permanent loan and $1.4 million in workforce housing funding from the agency’s $100 million Workforce Housing Initiative. The project also received approximately $12 million through an allocation of federal and state low-income housing tax credits by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, more than $3 million in direct affordable housing funding from DHCD, $1.2 million in HOME funds from Worcester, and approximately $5.3 million through allocations of federal and state historic tax credits.” (Worcester T&G – $5.1M financing deal for Central Building in Worcester 5/7/2016)

With this much public resources and taxpayer dollars you would expect this to be an exemplary project.

Sadly, Dellbrook Construction hired Nayelie Drywall, which is registered both as a Hartford, CT or Holyoke, MA subcontractor. Nayelie then stole wages from two non-union carpenters. After not receiving the money they were owed, these two Latino non-union carpenters came forward to the Carpenters Union for help.

“Worcester needs to stay vigilant in efforts to prevent wage theft. We’re willing to take on the Dellbrooks and Nayelie Drywall, but we’re hoping the Worcester City Council can pass a wage theft ordinance to help end the exploitation of workers in our City.”
Dave Minasian, Business Agent – Carpenters Local 336

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New Brunswick to Strengthen ‘Wage Theft’ Law (NJ)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By TOM HAYDON
January 22, 2019 at 1:23 PM

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ – City business owners who fail to pay employees the wages they earn will face increased scrutiny and possible suspension of their operating licenses under a revised ordinance slated to be passed next month.

The ordinance is aimed at “wage theft,” when employers pay workers less than they are owed. Usually, the workers are day laborers and part-time employees, often at restaurants and landscaping companies. Many times the workers are undocumented.

New Brunswick passed an ordinance four years ago to address the problem – and has recouped thousands of dollars workers were not paid. Under that local law, any company facing a complaint from the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development for failure to pay wages can be denied a renewal of a city operating license.

The company is not permitted to operate until the outstanding payment is resolved.

However, last September, residents from the city’s Unity Square Community Center complained to the city council that the ordinance fails to go far enough. If a company is cited by the state for not coughing up when they owe workers, the city ordinance does not take effect until that company must re-apply for its annual operating license.
That would change under the revised ordinance now before city council.

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Developers Would Provide Construction Workers with Prevailing Wage and Benefits on Government Subsidized Projects under Legislation Proposed by Council Member Ben Kallos (NY)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

New York, NY – Affordable housing and economic development projects receiving city subsidies would be required to pay workers a prevailing wage and provide training in the classroom and on the job through apprenticeship coupled with transparency, under legislation introduced by Council Member Ben Kallos.

Construction-related injuries and deaths continued to rise for the fifth straight year to 744 injuries and 16 deaths in fiscal year 2018, approximately triple the 212 injuries and 6 deaths in fiscal year 2014 according to the Mayor’s Management Report, as reported by City and State. Over the past fiscal year, when incidents further increased by 20%, Local Law 78 of 2017 authored by Council Member Ben Kallos was implemented forcing developers to report of construction-related injuries and fatalities with new minimum fines of $2,500 for failure to report. The Local Law 78 reports have been available on a monthly basis since June 2018 from the DOB.

In 2018, a construction worker earning the minimum wage of $11.10 an hour, working full time for 35 hours a week for 52 weeks, could only bring home $20,202 a year. This year’s increase to $15 an hour in New York City would increase this to $27,300 a year. Construction workers earning the minimum wage while building affordable housing would need access to units set at 30% of Area Median Income (AMI) deemed as extremely Low-Income, the lowest band possible. While construction workers on many affordable projects earn the minimum wage, many affordable housing projects do not even offer affordable housing at such extremely low-income, only making the crisis worse.

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Workers’ Center and ILR to host panel on wage theft in the new economy (NY)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

JANUARY 18, 2019
BY COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Tompkins County Workers’ Center handles between 80 and 100 cases of wage theft every year, and that’s scratching the surface of what’s going on just in our community. Employers steal more from their workers than the amount of dollars involved in bank robberies, burglaries, and all other thefts in the U.S. combined. TCWC has helped workers win wage theft judgments of more than $1.35 million, on top of organizing with workers to confront the wage theft in their workplaces directly.

Join us in downtown Ithaca on Tuesday, Feb. 5, to learn more about how companies are finding new ways to exploit workers to reduce costs, including engaging in the age-old practice of wage theft.

Hear from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and NY Department of Labor on their work to prosecute wage thieves on criminal charges. Hear from the Tompkins County DA on local enforcement, and experts and advocates on their eye-opening findings in the field.

Fighting Wage Theft: New Tools for a New Economy

6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019

The First Unitarian Society of Ithaca, 306 N. Aurora St. (corner of N. Aurora and Buffalo Streets).

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Mayor Kenney Signs Philadelphia Fair Workweek and Minimum Wage Bills Into Law (PA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

The National Law Review
Thursday, December 27, 2018

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signed two bills last week that provide affected employees in the City with more scheduling certainty and higher wages.

The first bill, the Fair Workweek Employment Standards Ordinance, requires employers with at least 250 employees and 30 locations worldwide in the retail, food services, and hospitality industries to provide their employees with more certainty regarding their work schedules, among other reforms. For more information on the Fair
Workweek Ordinance, please see Ballard Spahr’s prior alert.

The Philadelphia Minimum Wage Bill, which amends the 21st Century Minimum Wage Standard Ordinance, is much broader and will increase the minimum wage for all City employees, contractors, and subcontractors beginning next summer.

Starting July 1, 2019, the wage bill will gradually raise the minimum wage from the current $12.20 an hour to $13.25. The wage will increase to $13.75 an hour on July 1, 2020, $14.25 an hour on July 1, 2021, and $15.00 on July 1, 2022. After that, the minimum wage standard will continue to rise based on annual consumer price index adjustments.

The increased minimum wage will apply to all City employees and to employees of covered employers, including those that are recipients of City concessions, franchises, and leases, as well as recipients of City financial aid. Financial aid recipients include all persons or entities that receive direct City assistance of more than $100,000 in any 12-month period. City financial aid recipients must comply with minimum wage increase requirements for five years after their receipt of financial aid. Benefits incidental to City policies, regulations, ordinances, or charter provisions are not considered City financial aid.

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RESULTS OF THE REPEAL – DID IT WORK? (IN)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Nick Dmitrovich
October 12, 2018

A few weeks ago, Indiana passed the third anniversary mark since state legislators repealed the common construction wage law. Back in July of 2015, when the repeal went into effect, the intent was to provide financial relief for taxpayer-funded projects by reducing costs associated with construction wages.

At the time, former Governor Mike Pence, a major supporter of the repeal, said that “wages on public projects should be set by the marketplace and not by government bureaucracy.” During the campaign to get the repeal passed, supporters said the bill would help “cash-strapped” schools and other institutions keep project costs down.

So, now that a few years have gone by and data has had the chance to be developed, the big question is: Did it work? Did the repeal save public institutions the money it was supposed to?

Earlier this year, a report from the Midwest Economic Policy Institute (MEPI) straightforwardly titled “Effects of Repealing Common Construction Wage in Indiana” detailed the types of changes the repeal brought about across ten different construction market attributes. MEPI specializes in infrastructure investment and construction industry research.

To put it plainly, their report was a brutal look at the decision’s shortcomings and the damage its done to the construction industry.

“Repeal of common construction wage has led to a host of negative impacts on workers and the construction industry – including lower wages and more income inequality – while failing to deliver any meaningful cost savings or increased bid competition promised by those in favor of repeal,” researchers wrote.

Let’s take a look at the ten construction outcomes that researchers studied and how they have been impacted.

Construction Wages

Right off the bat, it’s fairly plain to see the people most impacted by the repeal are Indiana construction workers themselves, and vicariously their families. Just how much? A straight-up loss of 8.5 percent, even accounting for all the various factors that affect a person’s hourly wage (such as age, race, union membership, and other factors).
This wasn’t just a fact reflected in this report alone, it was actually predicted in additional research reports published at various times before and after the repeal went into effect (MEPI, Manzo, Bruno, Littlehale, et. al)

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EDITORIAL: WAGE THEFT SHOULD BE AT THE TOP OF LEGISLATURE’S AGENDA

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

October 2, 2018

If you put in an honest day’s work, you should get an honest day’s pay. It’s that simple. The problem is, it’s not happening. Wage theft is occurring across the Commonwealth and dishonest employers are getting away with it, because Beacon Hill has continuously sided with business interests over hard-working families.

The numbers are shocking. About $700 million is stolen from workers every year, the majority of whom are low-income people of color. Only a fraction of those wages, less than 1 percent, is recovered by state authorities.

Often, wage theft happens when bad employers use subcontracting and outsourcing to dodge their basic responsibilities. These crimes are so pervasive, they’re overwhelming the capacity of our existing labor laws and enforcement mechanisms. They’re also a drain on our economy that siphons much-needed revenue, funds that could go toward improving roads, schools, transit, and other public infrastructure.

Cities and towns across the Commonwealth understand what’s at stake, and they’ve shown real leadership standing up for the public good and confronting these criminals head on.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh led the charge in 2014, when he issued a powerful executive order protecting vulnerable workers from wage theft. At the time of the historic announcement, he said: “It’s illegal to deny fairly earned wages. This executive order empowers workers to demand what they have worked for. I’m committed to stopping violations and holding employers to the letter of the law.”

Since then, more municipalities, including Chelsea and Lynn, have also passed important anti-wage theft measures. And just this month, the Springfield City Council passed the strongest legislation yet. It ensures that businesses are in full compliance with wage and hour laws, including prevailing wage, before they receive any tax incentives from the city.

It’s a groundbreaking measure, and further proof that cities and towns are showing the way forward, but we still need a statewide solution that protects families from Norwood to New Bedford from this unlawful crime wave.

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Providing A ‘Level Playing Field’ For Workers, Public Bodies, Business Owners & Taxpayers To Ensure ‘All’ Benefit

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Published Wednesday, October 31, 2018
by WNYLaborToday.com Editor-Publisher Tom Campbell

(HAMBURG, NEW YORK) – Fear – in a word, according to representatives of the non-profit New York Foundation For Fair Contracting, is holding back many Non-Union Construction Workers from reporting wage theft or unsafe working conditions.
That’s because they don’t know where to go for help when it comes to being cheated out of their wages and their fringe benefits.

And just how would they ever make the right authorities aware of what’s happened to them without facing repercussions from their employer or being fired from their jobs?

And it’s not just Construction Workers. Its contractors looking for a fair shot at obtaining public construction work, while at the same time battling unscrupulous contractors that receive low responsible bidder status on a project.

And its public bodies that want to award contracts to responsible contractors who qualify as the low bidder.

After all, in the end, it’s the taxpayer who foots the bill when it’s found a debarred contractor that’s been restricted from bidding for public works jobs does indeed get the job.

But here in New York State, there’s an entity that’s currently working to level the playing field by supporting fair contracting across the State – the New York Foundation For Fair Contracting, a non-profit Labor-Management Organization that monitors Prevailing Wage public project work and the competitive bidding process in Western, Central and Northern New York, including those that fall under New York State Labor Law § 220 (covering public work) and Federally-funded Davis-Bacon (Prevailing Wage) work.

Under the State Freedom of Information Law and the Federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the NYFFC – which is not a private investigative service – reviews bid documents, contracts and certified payroll records to ensure contracting companies are following the laws and regulations that govern the industry.

The NYFFC’s compliance and monitoring work is done for the benefit of public bodies, as well as the taxpaying public. And its investigations serve to curb the corrupt act of underbidding and disenfranchising, not only for the individual Workers on a project, but also for taxpayers who expect a timely, safe and high quality end result.

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Worcester to guard against wage theft in future tax deals for private development

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Nick Kotsopoulos
Telegram & Gazette Staff
Updated Dec 9, 2018 at 8:05 PM

WORCESTER – The city will include provisions against wage theft in future tax increment financing agreements for private development projects, City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. has informed the City Council.

The action is in response to a call by several councilors to strengthen the city’s current wage theft ordinance, where appropriate, to include stipulations for building permits.

While it has been determined that the city cannot legally impose such conditions on building permits, it can put them in tax deals for private projects.

“The goal is to secure compliance and eliminate the use of wage theft tactics by entities doing business with the city,” Mr. Augustus wrote in a report that goes before the City Council Tuesday night.

In 2016, the City Council approved a wage-theft ordinance that prohibits the city from awarding contracts to companies that have been found guilty of not complying with federal and state wage laws, including failing to pay their employees, and failing to pay prevailing wage, minimum wage and overtime.

Other types of wage theft include denial of legal benefits such as industrial accident and health insurance, improper classification of employees and violations involving payment of taxes, unemployment compensation, Social Security and income tax withholding.

Under the Worcester ordinance, successful bidders for city contracts have to provide a certification of compliance regarding payment of wages to employees.

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Labor Joins Gonzalez Fletcher to Introduce New Bill to Protect Workers from Misclassification

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Nick Kotsopoulos
Telegram & Gazette Staff
Updated Dec 9, 2018 at 8:05 PM

Imagine working side-by-side with others who have all the benefits of being an employee of a company including paid sick days, a minimum wage, workers’ comp, unemployment insurance and more. Now imagine you are doing similar work without any of those protections because your boss decided to call you an “independent contractor” instead of an employee simply because he wants to cut corners on costs.

It’s called misclassification, and it’s a growing and devastating problem for workers, businesses that do the right thing and our economy as a whole.

The California labor movement joined Assembly member Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher today to tackle this problem head on, codifying into state law a recent California Supreme Court decision that provides a simple test employers must meet to classify workers as independent contractors. The test, a version of which exists in other states, removes uncertainty and ensures workers who are doing the job of an employee have all the protections and rights that should be afforded to them.

Alexei Koseff details the new effort to protect workers in today’s Sacramento Bee:

The bill would strengthen rules that make it harder for employers to classify workers as contractors and limit their rights under state labor laws.

“Individuals are not able to make it on three side hustles. That shouldn’t be the norm. That shouldn’t be accepted,” Gonzalez Fletcher said. She said the court’s decision is essential for maintaining solid employment for workers in a changing economy and for combating the income inequality that has helped drive California’s poverty rate to one of the highest in the nation.

“What we permit, what we don’t permit, what has worked for generations and built the middle class of California, needs to be largely intact,” she said.

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