A win for the common people

[SunsetBengal]

I've seen many examples of this over the years, corporate companies using outsourced labor to perform the same duties as union scale company employees.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/dc-attorney-general-sues-companies-for-denying-hundreds-of-construction-workers-pay-benefits/ar-BB1oAUfe?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=fcc299435c54446f854eaa67316c2eec&ei=34

Quote:WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb filed a lawsuit against five companies for depriving hundreds of construction workers of wages and benefits.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, alleges the Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, W.G./Welch Mechanical Contractors and three labor brokers misclassified employees as independent contractors in order to reduce labor costs.

In doing so, employees were paid less than D.C.’s minimum wage and denied overtime and sick pay to which they were entitled by law.

“It is unacceptable for businesses operating in the District of Columbia to boost their profits by stealing from workers,” said Attorney General Schwalb, in part, in a news release. “Welch and its subcontractors—labor brokers that provide low-cost workers to trade contractors—tried to cut corners and reduce costs by illegally misclassifying over 370 employees as independent contractors, denying them minimum wage, overtime, paid sick leave, and other benefits they were legally entitled to.”
Welch, the company at the center of the lawsuit, has a significant presence in the District’s construction industry, according to the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia (OAG).

Through contracts worth tens of millions of dollars, Welch provided employees to install HVAC systems, plumbing pipes and fixtures and perform sheet metal work on projects throughout the city.

Among the more notable developments in which the companies named in the suit were involved was City Ridge in Northwest.

City Ridge consists of 360,000 square feet of commercial space and is home to the District’s first Wegmans as well as a 690-unit residential building.

The Washington Post reported that a group of workers sued Welch separately in 2022, alleging the company owed them back pay for their work on City Ridge.

According to the OAG’s complaint, payroll records from Welch’s subcontractors in 2022 show workers were paid below D.C.’s minimum wage, which was $15.20 at the time.

DC residents beat the heat in outdoor pools on Juneteenth
Ramirez Plumbing, Inc., for example, showed at least nine workers who were paid below the minimum wage in records from February 2022 to March 2022. The subcontractor also shows more than 40 occasions in that time when workers were not paid for overtime.

The four-count complaint alleges the companies are responsible for worker misclassification, a violation of the Workplace Fraud Act; failure to pay overtime, a violation of the Minimum Wage Revision Act; failure to pay the minimum wage, a violation of the Minimum Wage Revision Act; and Failure to provide paid sick leave, a violation of the Sick and Safe Leave Act.

The District is requesting a jury trial should the lawsuit proceed.

“Labor brokers and the contractors that employ them not only steal from workers responsible for building our city but exact an unfair competitive advantage over businesses that play by the rules. My office will always have workers’ backs and ensure that all businesses in the District compete on a level playing field,” Schwalb said, in part.

DC News Now reached out to the Whiting-Turner Contracting Company and W.G./Welch Mechanical Contractors, LLC for comment Thursday. As of late morning, we had not received a response

[HarleyDog]

Labor brokers would be the same as staffing services correct? If so, I've always thought that was some BS where in some cases they take up to 30% of a workers wages. Anyway, this is unethical behavior and I hope they hit them hard.

[SunsetBengal]

(06-20-2024, 03:05 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: Labor brokers would be the same as staffing services correct? If so, I've always thought that was some BS where in some cases they take up to 30% of a workers wages. Anyway, this is unethical behavior and I hope they hit them hard.

I've got an example. One of my brothers in law got on working to build large solar farms. The company with the contract for the projects is from out of State, their contract reads that a significant percentage of the labor used on this project must be residents of Ohio. So, the company was using these staffing agencies to supply the Ohio workers, and paying them around $19/hr with no real benefits to speak of. They do the same work as the union guys, who start out at $34/hr. It took over a year and a half for my brother in law to fall under the good graces of one of the company supervisors and get hired onto the actual company and invited to join the union.

[HarleyDog]

(06-20-2024, 03:11 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: I've got an example. One of my brothers in law got on working to build large solar farms. The company with the contract for the projects is from out of State, their contract reads that a significant percentage of the labor used on this project must be residents of Ohio. So, the company was using these staffing agencies to supply the Ohio workers, and paying them around $19/hr with no real benefits to speak of. They do the same work as the union guys, who start out at $34/hr. It took over a year and a half for my brother in law to fall under the good graces of one of the company supervisors and get hired onto the actual company and invited to join the union.

That's pretty much how a staffing agency works. Except, many staffing agencies do offer benefits, but the cost of those benefits is unaffordable at the pay rate many receive. But one thing that does set them apart that I can think of is many times, a company will use a staffing agency as a stepping stone into the company. It prevents them from having a lot of upfront costs on employees who may not work out. So usually there's like a 60-90 working day period where an employee must keep good attendance and do a good job.

But let's talk corporations for a moment since I know there will be a few who jump in here and start yelling about corporate greed. I find it difficult to accuse most corporations of greed simply because they are making record profits. That's their job. Just as the workers on the floor have a job to do, everyone up to the CO has to achieve milestones or they lose their jobs too. I invest in the market and I look for growth. If I don't get it from a company, I sell their stock and buy stock from someone who's going to make me money. Why would I, or anyone else approach investing any other way?

I think our younger adults cry corporate greed the most simply because they are used to having things given to them. People work to make money, not give it away to those who don't. This leads to a lot of the problems we have in this country today and kids wanting a free education. We are going to run out of money to fund SS here shortly, but we think it's a great idea to bail out the kids who signed a promise to pay their debt. That's ok though I guess, since the elderly won't stay pissed too long since they've only got a few years left anyway.

Damn, I was trying to stay on topic, but it all intertwines in some fashion.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

(06-20-2024, 03:36 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: That's pretty much how a staffing agency works. Except, many staffing agencies do offer benefits, but the cost of those benefits is unaffordable at the pay rate many receive. But one thing that does set them apart that I can think of is many times, a company will use a staffing agency as a stepping stone into the company. It prevents them from having a lot of upfront costs on employees who may not work out. So usually there's like a 60-90 working day period where an employee must keep good attendance and do a good job.

But let's talk corporations for a moment since I know there will be a few who jump in here and start yelling about corporate greed. I find it difficult to accuse most corporations of greed simply because they are making record profits. That's their job. Just as the workers on the floor have a job to do, everyone up to the CO has to achieve milestones or they lose their jobs too. I invest in the market and I look for growth. If I don't get it from a company, I sell their stock and buy stock from someone who's going to make me money. Why would I, or anyone else approach investing any other way?

LOL

And you said that you listen.

I didn't complain about corporate greed . . . I complained about the only thing that Republicans are successful at is cutting taxes for people that don't need them. I wonder how it would have gone over when they were selling this tax cut to the American people if they actually told the truth . . . "We're going to create thousands of temporary jobs with this tax cut. All of the jobs that we create with this tax cut will be usurped during record profits less than six years later, because corporations are gonna corporation. And we're going to fight like Hell to make these big tax cuts permanent, but yours are going to go up because we designed it to be beneficial to the working man for a few years but you're all going to have to make up for it later."

Quote:I think our younger adults cry corporate greed the most simply because they are used to having things given to them. People work to make money, not give it away to those who don't. This leads to a lot of the problems we have in this country today and kids wanting a free education. We are going to run out of money to fund SS here shortly, but we think it's a great idea to bail out the kids who signed a promise to pay their debt. That's ok though I guess, since the elderly won't stay pissed too long since they've only got a few years left anyway.

Damn, I was trying to stay on topic, but it all intertwines in some fashion.

Yeah . . . I can see that. If you're immersed in Right Wing media, you're going to think that way. Obama said "If I only watched Fox News, I wouldn't vote for me either." But if you look around, outside of that bubble, you'll see that it's the corporations that are addicted to getting things for free, but you'll NEVER hear about that from Kilmeade or whatever you listen to/watch. That's why there's multi pro Right talk radio stations. PLENTY of big money sponsors wanting you to vote against your own self interest and keep voting Republican. Biden wants to increase the tax on income over $400,000 per year . . . Now who here makes almost $8,000 a week? If I made that much money, I wouldn't be wasting my time on here. I'd be on vacation too much.

Since there isn't a national Left or Independent talk radio station available to me, I have to go via the podcast route. This may come as a surprise to you, but most of the podcasts that I watch have exiled Republicans as the guests. Denver Riggleman, Adam Kinzinger, Jow Walsh, Anthony Scarramucci, Larry Hogan and occasionally I'll check out The Lincoln Project or The Bulwark which are Never Trump Republicans. I can tolerate Republicans bashing Trump . . . I can't listen to Democrats bashing him for long, unless it's the comedians.

I still click on Fox News clips on YouTube, but most of the podcasters on the Right are a bit too whiny for my taste. Ben Shapiro, Steven Crowder, Tim Pool(Dim Tool) Charlie Kirk, Dan Bongino. Any Centrist Republicans that are doing a podcast that you can recommend? All I ever see are Trump bootlickers and I don't waste my time with that.

[*michaelsean*]

(06-20-2024, 07:45 PM)Forever Spinning Vinyl Wrote: LOL

And you said that you listen.

I didn't complain about corporate greed . . . I complained about the only thing that Republicans are successful at is cutting taxes for people that don't need them. I wonder how it would have gone over when they were selling this tax cut to the American people if they actually told the truth . . . "We're going to create thousands of temporary jobs with this tax cut. All of the jobs that we create with this tax cut will be usurped during record profits less than six years later, because corporations are gonna corporation. And we're going to fight like Hell to make these big tax cuts permanent, but yours are going to go up because we designed it to be beneficial to the working man for a few years but you're all going to have to make up for it later."

Yeah . . . I can see that. If you're immersed in Right Wing media, you're going to think that way. Obama said "If I only watched Fox News, I wouldn't vote for me either." But if you look around, outside of that bubble, you'll see that it's the corporations that are addicted to getting things for free, but you'll NEVER hear about that from Kilmeade or whatever you listen to/watch. That's why there's multi pro Right talk radio stations. PLENTY of big money sponsors wanting you to vote against your own self interest and keep voting Republican. Biden wants to increase the tax on income over $400,000 per year . . . Now who here makes almost $8,000 a week? If I made that much money, I wouldn't be wasting my time on here. I'd be on vacation too much.

Since there isn't a national Left or Independent talk radio station available to me, I have to go via the podcast route. This may come as a surprise to you, but most of the podcasts that I watch have exiled Republicans as the guests. Denver Riggleman, Adam Kinzinger, Jow Walsh, Anthony Scarramucci, Larry Hogan and occasionally I'll check out The Lincoln Project or The Bulwark which are Never Trump Republicans. I can tolerate Republicans bashing Trump . . . I can't listen to Democrats bashing him for long, unless it's the comedians.

I still click on Fox News clips on YouTube, but most of the podcasters on the Right are a bit too whiny for my taste. Ben Shapiro, Steven Crowder, Tim Pool(Dim Tool) Charlie Kirk, Dan Bongino. Any Centrist Republicans that are doing a podcast that you can recommend? All I ever see are Trump bootlickers and I don't waste my time with that.

They did double the standard deduction. This especially helps renters who don’t have mortgage interest and property tax to deduct. I do have those, but the new standard deduction is more so I don’t have to keep track of all those deductions.

[*Nately120*]

This company will probably move from DC to Texas where wins for the common people take a backseat to corporations being left to their own devices.