NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | February 21, 2020 | PAGE 5
WORKERS’ RIGHTS
Union volunteers help enforce laws against construction
wage theft on Multnomah County projects
By Don McIntosh
In the fight against wage theft,
the volunteer cavalry has begun
to arrive. On Jan. 21, the Mult-
nomah County Commission
heard a first report back about a
pilot program in which union
and community volunteers help
County officials police construc-
tion work sites to make sure
public works contractors are
obeying labor laws, such as pay-
ing prevailing wage and over-
time, not exceeding the man-
dated apprentice-to-journeyman
ratio, and not misclassifying
construction workers into lower-
paid job classifications.
There are 13 volunteers so
far, mostly business representa-
tives from local building trades
unions. They get County train-
ing, and access to a new soft-
ware program known as LCP-
tracker, which contractors on
County projects use to submit
certified payroll records. The
program automatically flags
problem data, which greatly
speeds enforcement of prevail-
ing wage and other wage and
hour laws. Volunteers also get
ID badges authorizing them to
visit construction work sites,
where they speak with workers
about conditions—to make sure
they match up with what their
employers are reporting. Any
violations are reported to the
Oregon Bureau of Labor and In-
dustries for enforcement.
“Access to the workers is the
biggest thing,” said Sheet Metal
Workers Local 16 organizer
Brian Noble. “They usually
don’t know that the company
could be stealing money from
them. By talking to them, we
can find out.”
The first batch of volunteers
was trained last August. So far
the program includes volunteers
from the Sheet Metal, Painters,
Carpenters, Operators, Iron-
workers, Glaziers, and Bricklay-
ers unions. The software
launched Oct. 1. Site visits began
later that month. The program is
modeled on a similar program
used by the Los Angeles Unified
School District.
“We’ve had a great start,”
Noble said. “The program is
working.”
County commissioners last
May approved temporary fund-
ing for the pilot program. After
hearing the Jan. 21 progress re-
port, commissioners voiced sup-
port for making the program on-
going when County Chair Deb
Kafoury submits her next pro-
posed budget in April.
“Our goal is to make sure that
all workers get the wages that
they’ve earned and that they de-
serve,” Kafoury told union volun-
teers and county staff.
Commissioner Lori Stegman
said she’d like to see the program
go statewide.
“The term ‘wage theft’
doesn’t really cover it. This is
exploitation,” added Commis-
sioner Susheela Jayapal.
Some of the ways unscrupulous employers cheat workers out of wages
Don’t pay them. Some contractors hire a day laborer
for a day’s work, then stiff them when the work is
done.
Don’t pay for breaks.Workers will be told the
company is in too big a hurry for them to take meal
and rest breaks.
Don’t pay them overtime. Workers are entitled to
time-and-a-half when they work more than 40
hours in a week, but they don’t always get it.
Tell them they’re independent contractors. A
common fraud victimizes workers because employers
don’t pay employer Social Security tax,
unemployment insurance, workers’ comp, and
sometimes even minimum wage.
Don’t pay them for time in transit. Some
employers will tell workers to pick up the company
truck and equipment and drive 50 miles to the work
site, but pay them only for the hours they work on
site.
Call them apprentices. On prevailing wage jobs,
nonunion employers sometimes pay journeymen the
apprentice wage, and get away with it if workers
don’t know what they’re entitled to.
Work them off-the-clock. Employers may ask
workers to do a little prep work before they clock in,
or a little cleanup after they clock out. It’s illegal.
Ask for kickbacks. On prevailing wage projects, some
nonunion employers have been known to direct
workers to pay a portion of their premium wages
back to the company, the foreman, or labor broker.
Pay piece rate. If it ends up less than minimum wage,
it’s illegal.
Deduct things from their wages. Some employers
deduct fees for the tools or supplies workers need to
do the job. It’s illegal.
Misclassify them. On a prevailing wage job,
employers might pay workers at the lower laborer
rate while they do carpenter or painter work, for
example.
Leave off benefits. Prevailing wage requirements
mandate money for benefits. Some unscrupulous
employers leave that off.
Lie about the number of hours worked. Some
employers will report that they paid the prevailing
wage, but underreport hours worked so that the
paychecks match the reported wage.
UNION ORGANIZING
Workers at Growing Seeds daycare
chain announce union campaign
Workers at a Portland child-
care chain announced a union
campaign Feb. 17 that would
include about 75 workers at
all three day care centers op-
erated by Growing Seeds
Learning Community. If they
officially win a union through
voluntary recognition or a
government-administered
union election, they would
become members of Interna-
tional Longshore and Ware-
house Union (ILWU) Local
5, which represents workers
at Powell’s Books, the Ore-
gon Historical Society, and
two local veterinary hospi-
tals.
Growing Seeds, founded
in 2004, has grown to three
locations in Portland: 6505
NE Martin Luther King Jr.
Blvd., 2808 NE Martin
Luther King Jr. Blvd., and
2808 SE Steele St. The cen-
ters provide care and instruc-
tion for children aged six
weeks to six years.
A press statement an-
nouncing the union cited “un-
fair compensation, unsanitary
working conditions, and lack
of support for teachers,” as
reasons for the decision to
unionize, along with a desire
to have a stronger voice in
anti-bias training.
“Any positive changes to
our working conditions will
result in positive changes in
the experiences of the chil-
dren we work with,” said
Growing Seeds preschool
teacher Olivia Pace in the
statement.