AvalonBay’s case for building housing projects with reputable contractors who comply with the law has gotten a lot weaker. Problems with AvalonBay subcontractors in two states have hit newspapers, once again lending credibility to claims union carpenters have been making for several years.
In March, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office cited five subcontractors for misclassifying workers on three AvalonBay projects in Massachusetts, ordering payment of more than $36,000 in fines and restitution.
The action came shortly after the owner of one of those same companies was arrested and arraigned in Connecticut on twenty counts of failure to properly pay workers. That company, National Carpentry, and its owner, John Kirk have become notorious with not only the union, but with state enforcement agencies in the largest two New England states.
In December, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal attended a press conference with a group of workers who filed a civil suit against National Carpentry and Kirk. Twenty of thirty-four workers who were owed money joined the suit after being shortchanged for work they did at a luxury condo project in Stamford. The state brought charges of wage fraud against Kirk, who is facing fines and jail time.
Gary Pechie, the Director of the Connecticut Labor Department’s Wage and Workplace Standards Division estimated the workers are owed $55,000 and called Kirk "the poster child of how not to do business in the state of Connecticut."
National Carpentry is well known to organizers from the New England Regional Council of Carpenters. They have been one of the larger wood frame contractors in the region for several years and one of the more aggressive in taking advantage of a "coyote" system for accessing easily exploitable immigrant workers. Their partnership with AvalonBay has not been a good one.
National Carpentry was hired to build on AvalonBay projects in Lexington and Woburn, Massachusetts. After visiting the Lexington site, OSHA issued citations and fines for inadequate fall protection. Not long after, in an unusual move, those fines were rescinded. Only months later in neighboring Woburn, carpenter Oscar Pintado fell to his death while working for National Carpentry on an AvalonBay project. National essentially disavowed Pintado, claiming he worked for another subcontractor.
In Coakley’s investigation, National Carpentry was found to have misclassified employees as independent contractors on both the Lexington and Woburn AvalonBay projects.
Also cited in the investigation were AMC Building Construction LLC of Thorndike, MA and its owner, Jocelyne Boduc; DaVinci Construction Company of Massachusetts, Inc., and its President, Arthur Cipoletti, of West Bayshore, NY; F.A. Construction of Revere, MA and its owners Francisco and Miriam Antunez; and C&K Subcontractors and its owner Chong Kim, of Fairfax, Virginia.
National Carpentry will pay a total of $15,000 in fines as a result of the investigation.
AMC agreed to pay a $10,000 citation for violating laws regarding misclassification at the Lexington AvalonBay site. They have also agreed to a compliance plan with the Attorney General’s office that allows the AG to monitor operations to ensure compliance.
DaVinci Construction also agreed to a compliance plan with the Attorney General’s office after investigation of their practices at the AvalonBay project in Lexington.
F.A. Construction was cited for violations at the Lexington Project and will pay more than $20,000 in fines, penalties and restitution.
C&K will pay $5,000 for citations for failing to provide records for inspection in regards to their work on the Hingham job.
Blumenthal had harsh words for National Carpentry and its business model, saying they "egregiously exploited its workers, hopeful or certain that they would be reluctant to report abuse for fear of retaliation or other consequences. Despite its promises, this company paid its workers less -- and sometimes nothing at all -- for physically draining 70-hour work weeks.
"These reprehensible practices allegedly jeopardized lives and livelihood -- denying hundreds of workers fair wages and employment opportunities.
"Even if employees are undocumented, they are still protected by state and federal laws that require fair treatment of employees. We will fight vigorously to uphold the law in this case -- and others when employers prey on vulnerable men and women. Substandard pay or working conditions for some workers affects all workplaces."
Blumenthal’s words were not an exaggeration. Last year in Connecticut alone, the state issued ten Stop Work orders against National Carpentry for not having proper workers compensation coverage on workers.
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