Apr
2013 3
2013 3
200 People Protest NV Assemblyman’s Attempt to Undermine Prevailing Wages, Overtime Pay
Over 200 union workers stood outside the Nevada legislature in protest as the Nevada Assembly Government Affairs Committee debated a proposed law that would make drastic changes to the state’s prevailing wage standards. The bill, sponsored by Republican Assemblymen Pat Hickey, would change the threshold for prevailing wages to kick in from...
Apr
2013 3
2013 3
Amidst Cacophony of Guest Worker Deal Chatter, Farm Workers Score Big H-2B Wage Victory in the Courts
U.S. District Judge Legrome Davis granted farm worker groups a permanent injunction after finding that the Labor Department’s 2008 Wage Rule “directly contradicts” the Immigration and Nationality Act. That act, from 1952, created the H-2B visa program which allows employers to bring in temporary guest workers from other...
Apr
2013 2
2013 2
EFFECT and EFFECT: NYC’s Paid Sick Days Bill to Go Into Effect in 2014, Effect Similar Battles Across US Immediately
A deal has been struck by the New York City Council to pass mandatory paid sick days. Although it is likely to be vetoed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a staunch opponent of the bill, the council reportedly has enough votes to override the veto. The bill is the result of a three-year battle fought by ...
Apr
2013 2
2013 2
Cincinnati City Council Votes 8-0 to Bolster Prevailing Wage Standards
In Cincinnati, the City Council has passed new legislation that would mandate across the board prevailing wages on any project that receives more than 30 percent of its investment from the city. The new standard goes beyond the state’s requirement that prevailing wages be paid on any portion of a project that is publicly funded. ...
Apr
2013 1
2013 1
Seven Contractors Smacked with $300,000 in Fines Stemming from Prevailing Wage Violations
In California, seven contractors have been fined a total of $313,705 for failing to pay the prevailing wage on work done to expand a highway near the new Wal-Mart in Kerman. Valley Vanguard Properties Inc. is the general contractor on the project where subcontractors include Barracuda Construction Inc., Fresno Prestige Electric Corp. and Safety...
Mar
2013 29
2013 29
Slew of Anti-Wage Bills Make Their Way Through Tennessee Legislature Reeking of ALEC
In Tennessee, Republicans in the state house are introducing a series of bills that would repeal the prevailing wage in the construction industry. On Monday, State Rep. Pat Marsh took to the pages of the Elk Valley Times to trumpet what he calls his “biggest bill in committee”: I have been asked to carry this ...
Mar
2013 29
2013 29
New Charts Highlight the Destruction of Wages in America
Charts provided by the website Visualizing Economics supply a visual answer to the question, ‘What happened to Wages?’ Looking past the prior few decades like few other studies do, Catherine Mulbrandon takes us back to the year 1800 to get the long view of decline. Her simple explanation of what has happened to workers reads ...
Mar
2013 27
2013 27
Pair of NY Electrical Contractors Charged With 20+ Wage Violations, Could Face 15 Years in Prison
The owners of R3 Electrical, Ronald Bartiromo and Raymond D’Auria, were in Manhattan criminal court on Tuesday being charged with two counts of second-degree grand larceny, two counts of state labor law violations and 20 counts each of falsifying business records and offering a false instrument for filing. The two contractors are accused of...
Mar
2013 21
2013 21
Class Action Lawsuit Claims Citizens Bank Managers Were Stiffed Out of $14 Million in Overtime Pay
A class action lawsuit alleges that Assistant Managers of Citizens Banks were misclassified by their employer as salaried employees in order to avoid paying them overtime. The issue is now making its way to a jury trial which will begin on April 2nd and is expected to last three weeks. The Assistant Managers claim they ...
Mar
2013 20
2013 20
America’s Cup Contractors Owe $460,000 in Prevailing Wage Back Pay
Poor planning of this year’s America’s Cup has left more than a dozen workers shy $460,000 in back wages. Contractors working for the race’s organizers have failed to comply with prevailing wage mandates put in place at the last minute by the city. Prevailing wage are commonplace in public construction projects but not mandatory...
Mar
2013 18
2013 18
NELP: 1 in 6 of ALEC Legislators’ Anti-Wage Bills Have Passed Since January 2011
The National Employment Law Project (NELP) has released a new study in which it exposes the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) influence ‘behind the curtain’ of wage suppression. In “The Politics of Wage Suppression: Inside ALEC’s Legislative Campaign Against Low-Paid Workers,” NELP lays out...
Mar
2013 15
2013 15
Six H-1B Visa Abusers Arrested for “Benching” of Workers to Artificially Lower Wages
Recent actions by Federal authorities in Texas — namely the arrest of six top officials of Dibon Solutions for conspiracy to commit H-1B visa fraud and wire fraud charges — shows an uptick in prosecution of guest worker program abusers. The Indian-born officials allegedly conspired to engage in fraudulent activity from Feb. 2008 to...
