If we are in the bottom of the recession river, it is much wider than most folks thought it might be. The recovery is taking longer that the economists thought and the...
As much as the construction industry wanted to see 2010 come to an end, we are now faced with 2011 as a year of accelerating change. Based on the latest figures from...
January 04, 2011
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported yesterday:“Eight illegal aliens in a minivan stopped by state police at the turnpike interchange in New Stanton Monday were headed to work on a publicly financed housing project in Jeannette, according to state police and housing officials.”They were traveling in a van with a broken windshield. When stopped by the police, several ran away. They were subsequently apprehended and discovered to be in the country illegally. They were traveling Maryland to Jeannette to work as framers on a $3.2 million public housing project. The illegal workers were hired by the framing subcontractor, O. C. Cluss Lumber of Uniontown, PA who was supposed to show documentation of the workers’ identifications and addresses to the general contractor, Steve Catranel Construction of Pittsburgh.
December 28, 2010
There are many stories in the big city about wage theft from construction laborers, independent contractors and free lancers. An article on the opinion page of the New York Times does a great job of showing the differences and the possible outcomes from the legal actions being undertaken by three individuals who have suffered from wage theft. Coming from three entirely different vocations, a construction worker, a computer consultant and a freelance writer all share the common experience of dealing with employers who routinely fail to pay their wages as promised.The article expressed doubt that New York’s newest Wage Theft Prevention law would be of much help to these three particular individuals, but mentions
December 20, 2010
Reed Construction Data (RCD) chief economist Jim Haughey has given us a glimpse at the next few years of potential construction volume in the top 50 markets around the country.New...
December 16, 2010
According to Buffalo Business First, Governor David Paterson signed the New York Wage Theft Prevention Act into law on December 13. The passage of this law will make New York employers pay both attention and reasonable wages and taxes on those wages. Up to now, employers caught breaking the law were only required to pay 25% of back wages, causing some to under-pay employees on the chance that they may not be found out since the penalty if caught was so low. Now they must pay all wages owed plus a penalty matching the owed-wage amount.Interesting that Governor Paterson thought that the problem needed to be addressed in New York but Governor Schwarzenegger in California vetoed a similar bill when it was presented to him a couple of months ago,
December 15, 2010
New content guidelines for San Francisco were passed by the city’s supervisors by a vote of 8-3 Tuesday. According to the CBS News the new guidelines would require that every city – funded project would have a requirement for participation by city residents. The initial percentage would be 20% hiring of San Francisco residents and the guidelines would increase 5% each year until the total participation reaches 50%.Mayor Gavin Newsom will have the opportunity to veto the action if he wants to, but he has expressed support for Buy San Francisco moves in the past. The mayor will review the details closely since there are several billion dollars in construction projects planned for San Francisco in the next decade. Supporters claim that the 8-3 vote in favor of the legislation will ensure a veto-proof majority.
December 09, 2010
The New York Assembly did pass the Wage Theft Prevention Act (WTPA) that we wrote about last week. They have now sent it to the desk of Governor David Paterson for his...
December 06, 2010
According to Capitol Confidential, a blog by the (Albany, NY) Times Union, the chances for passage of the Wage Theft Prevention Act to the governor’s desk requires prompt action...
December 01, 2010
According to an article in the Albany Times Union last week, the returning New York legislature is close to passing a state-wide law against wage theft. If they pass it and...
November 30, 2010
