Braintree, Massachusetts-based Northeast Interiors has been ordered by the state to pay $20,000 in fines and make restitution of almost $16,000 to twelve employees. The company cheated workers on three projects in Arlington, Swampscott and Salem.
Civil citations were issued against Northeast Interiors and owner Kevin Fish for failure to pay prevailing wages for work performed ($5,000), failure to submit true and accurate certified payroll records ($7,500) and failure to keep true and accurate payroll records ($7,500). Violations occured when the company was doing work at Arlington Menotomy Manner, Swampscott Thomson Building and Salem Rainbow Terrace.
In recognition of Earth Day 2012 the New England Carpenters Training Fund is sponsoring a FREE electronics Recycling on Monday, April 23, 2012 at the New England Carpenters Training Center (NECTC), 13 Holman Rd, Millbury, MA 01527.
Items may be dropped off between the hours of 7:00 AM and 2:30 PM (any day this week or on Monday, April 23).
Please call the NECTC at 508-792-5443 to let them know if you will participating so they have an idea of when you will arrive and the items you will be bringing.
The New England Regional Council of Carpenters and other industry groups are calling on the Massachusetts legislature to make it a felony for employers to fail to purchase workers compensation insurance for their employees. Senate Bill 915, sponsored by Senator Katherine Clark (D-Melrose) and Majority Whip Ronald Mariano (D-Quincy) also has the backing of Attorney General Martha Coakley.
Operating without workers' compesnation insurance is currently a misdemeanor, punishable by upt oa year in prison or a find of up to $1,500. The new law would make the felongy punishapble by up to five years in state prison, two-and-a-half years in jail or a fine of up to $10,000.
NERCC Political Director Steve Joyce said that although union carpenters are always covered by workers' compensation insurance, they are still hurt by those who cheat.
"In an industry where work most often goes to whoever submits the lowest price, any contractor who does not purchase workers' compensation coverage has a competitive advantage right from the start over contractors who follow the law and have coverage," he said. "That negatively impacts any carpenter that works for a legitmate contractor. We're not looking to hurt all employers, we value the role they play in creating jobs. We just want everyone to comply with the law when they do it."
Even the Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM), a group that lobbies for businesses, support the bill. In a story by the State House News Service, John Regan, AIM's Executive Vice President described the current situation as unfair to too many.
"Their faliure to have that insurance in place means that if workers working for them get injured, the rest of the employer commnity pays the bill" and that making failure to have coverage a felony "reflects the seriousness of the issue, and conveys how important it is that coverage be in place."
According to the SHNS story, the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents has reported more than 1,000 cses costing the worekrs compensation fund $26 million in the last five years becuase their employer didn't have worers' compensation coverage. In recent years the department has routinely issued Stop Work Orders against more than 3,000 employer found to be operating without workers' compensation coverage.
Information sessions are being held for members who would like to learn more about degree programs available through the union at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Two sessions are scheduled in the coming weeks.
Saturday, April 21 at 10AM: 750 Dorchester Ave., Boston, MA
Saturday, May 5 at 9 AM: 13 Holman Rd., Millbury, MA
Learn more general information about the program by clicking here.
While we love the convenience and immediacy of sharing news and information through the “Council Update” and on NERCC.org and social media platforms, we know not every carpenter is active online. So the New England Regional Council is committed to continuing to produce the New England Carpenter magazine and deliver it to every member’s home.
The latest issue of New England Carpenter magazine has rolled through the presses up in Salem, Massachusetts at Deschamps Printing. You’ll notice some changes in this issue, including some new design elements and more (and bigger) pictures of union members and union projects!
We’re featuring a cluster of stories about member involvement in area standards demonstrations and introducing the Union Participation Program, which will plug active members into ongoing union efforts to protect standards and win more work opportunities.
Multiple enforcement agencies in Massachusetts today announced that five subcontractors employed by Pulte on sites in Eastern Massachusetts have been ordered to pay workers more than $400,000 in owed wages and make payments totaling $141,000 to cover unpaid taxes.
The order is the result of investigations that began after workers complained to Representatives of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters that they had been unpaid for extended periods of time. Workers went on strike at several Pulte locations and filed complaints with the state.
"The investigation fined five separate subcontractors, but the real culprit is Pulte Homes, a multi-billion dollar national homebuilder," said Mark Erlich, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters. "Those subs are interchangeable and were just doing Pulte's bidding. Cheating is Pulte's business model and, unfortunately, that approach is far too common in the residential construction industry."
Subcontractors that were part of the order include:
--AM Construction Services and its President, Adimar Demoura, age 32 of Framingham, allegedly failed to pay four workers a total of $15,331.50 for framing work done on private residential projects in Braintree and Plymouth. They were also fined $22,500 in penalties.
--Five Stars Construction and its President, Alexandre Miranda, age 40 of Trumbull, Connecticut, allegedly failed to pay two workers a total of $30,700 for framing work done on a private condominium project in Natick. They were also fined $30,000 in penalties.
--Nunes Brothers Construction and its President, Tiago Aguiar M. Nunes, age 28 of Brooklyn, New York, allegedly failed to pay 23 workers a total of $99,086.75 for framing work done on private condominium and single-family homes projects in Braintree, Plymouth, Natick, and Northbridge. They were also fined $112,500 in penalties.
--Seven Seas Group and its President, Jackson Croscup, age 55 of Fall River, allegedly failed to pay five workers a total of $10,333 for framing work done on a private condominium project in Natick. They were also fined $20,075 in penalties.
--Two Brothers Construction and its President, Wellington DeLima Borges, age 41 of East Natick, allegedly failed to pay six workers a total of $34,751.50 for framing work done on a private home development project in Plymouth. They were also fined $34,500 in penalties.
Investigating the complaints were Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office (AGO), the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD), and the Joint Enforcement Task Force on the Underground Economy and Employee Misclassification (JTF). The JTF was established by Governor Deval Patrick through Executive Order #499 in March 2008 to coordinate multiple state agencies’ efforts to stamp out fraudulent employment activities by enforcing the state’s labor, licensing, and tax laws.
“All workers in the Commonwealth deserve to be paid for the wages they have earned, including their overtime,” said Attorney General Coakley. “We will continue to work together and take appropriate action to stop these unlawful business practices, level the playing field for companies and protect workers.”
“The Commonwealth is committed to insuring that all businesses carry both workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance coverage,” said Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Joanne F. Goldstein. “We will not tolerate employers or developers who proceed without this coverage, which puts employees at risk and employers who play by the rules at a competitive disadvantage. The Joint Task Force will continue to take all necessary action to protect legitimate employers, employees and the taxpayers of the Commonwealth.”
Play ball! Posted by
NERCC
on March 10, 2011 at 12:00 AM
Carpenters from Local 424 volunteered their time to build a new snack bar at a local Little League field in Braintree, MA. The snack bar was built at Hollingsworth Park, which hosts over 700 players a year. The volunteers saved the league an estimated $10,000.
“That’s money that we would have had to raise and pay off. It means a lot to the program,” said Steve Guilbault, the vice president for the League’s Board of Directors.
The donation drew the attention of Town Hall, who praised the union’s efforts.
“In these challenging times, this kind of volunteer effort is especially valued,” said Peter Morin, the chief of staff and operations for Braintree.
The volunteer carpenters completed the project in just 5 days. Permanent signage recognizing the efforts of the Carpenters Union will be hung on the outfield wall in the Spring.
The Local 424 volunteers were: Dave Curley, point person and project foreman; Steve Paker; Steve Singleton; Brian Knox; Tom Duncanson; Dave Shurtleff; Brian DuBois; Joe MacLellan; and Frank Baxter.
The Boston Globe ran a piece about the volunteer efforts, it can be read here.
Members of the Carpenters Union passed out information to Hingham residents attending last night's Town Meeting. The meeting considered and passed a motion a Proposition 2 1/2 override question on a town election ballot this weekend. Hingham must secure additional funding (raise taxes!)to qualify for reimbursement from the State School Building Authority for a school building recently completed.
The information handed out by carpenters made the connection between the underground economy and overrides like the one in Hingham. As you recall, several subcontractors for Avalon Bay have been cited recently by the Attorney General’s Office for misclassification of workers and other wage and hour law violations. Misclassification cheats the feds, state and local municipalities out of owed tax revenue and is a significant problem in the construction industry state-wide.
Avalon Bay CEO Bryce Blair is a Hingham resident.
Rick Braccia, President/Business Manager of Carpenters Local 424 submitted the following letter to the Hingham Journal:
April 23, 2009
To the Editor;
Last year, in this and other local newspapers, the New England Regional Council of Carpenters shed light on the illegal business practices of a number of developers and contractors, both large and small. In Hingham, we focused on Avalon Bay and its CEO, Hingham resident, Bryce Blair. It was our contention that our members, as well as every other taxpayer in the Commonwealth were being cheated by the failure of Avalon Bay’s contractors to comply with state and federal tax laws. In many cases, we were dismissed as sore losers because our contractors and members were not being awarded the work on the projects.
In February of this year, the State Attorney General’s office issued citations against several contractors who worked on Avalon Bay projects throughout New England. The fines imposed were for the same violations which the carpenters union claimed were standard procedure on the jobs, and in fact, were part of the Avalon Bay business model.
However, vindication is far from sweet. These same business practices continue unchecked, not only in the world of profit driven private development, but in public construction as well. As Hingham is facing an override to secure state funding for the new elementary school, V Locke Contracting, a major subcontractor on that same school is under investigation by the Attorney General’s office for multiple violations, including worker misclassification, falsification of public documents, and undercutting the state-mandated wage. I have personally interviewed several workers who worked on this project and who were paid in cash, at less than the prevailing wage.
There seems to be more than a trace of irony in this. Avalon Bay’s contractors, V Locke Contracting, and hundreds like them are cheating Massachusetts out of hundreds of millions of dollars annually in unpaid taxes. And now Hingham is in the position of asking their taxpayers to come up with more cash out of pocket to supplement the shortfall in state revenue.
I have to ask- where is the outrage? I urge Hingham taxpayers to visit the new school on Collins Avenue and talk to the superintendant. His employer, CTA, won the bid based on a cheater’s price. Ask him why you should pay his salary. I also urge any resident who sees Bryce Blair around town for a thank you or an apology. After all your taxes are subsidizing his business.
Local 424 Business Agent Rick Braccia checked in with some goings-on in his area...
--StreetWorks, the Master Developer of Downtown Quincy is presenting their proposal to the City Council on Monday night at City Hall at 7:00 P.M. The plan was presented to the Building Trades last week. Although the project isn't a solution to our immediate needs for jobs, the potential for development in Quincy is unbelievable.
--There is a public hearing on Thursday night (March 5) at the former Watson Library in Braintree. This is a joint hearing by Braintree and Weymouth officials to explore infrastructure improvement as a means of attracting business development to Weymouth Landing.
--Last Tuesday night, there was a meeting of the Braintree Town Council Ordinance Committee at which NERCC Director of Organizing Brian Richardson, Local 33 President John Murphy, and Rick Braccia testified in support of a responsible employer ordinance (REO). The town currently has an REO Policy, but this is merely a recommendation to contractors doing public work in the town. If Braintree adopts this as an ordinance, it give legitimate contractors a more level playing field. The response of the committee was overwhelmingly positive. The REO is being proposed by Councilor Tom Bowes.
--The next VOC meeting is on March 11. On the same night, we are asking Quincy residents to attend the Planning Board meeting at City Hall at 7:00 P.M. The Planning Board is going to reject an application by anti-union, developer Michael Corcoran, and it would be beneficial to have some applause in the audience. A few years back, Corcoran was the developer of the Cliffwalk Apartments on Willard St that we held rallies and a six month picket line on. That was the job with Plumbhouse as a GC. In case nobody recalls, Plumbhouse is the guy who has his trucks lettered "Merit Shop Builds Best."
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