Illegal workers allegedly hired for recovery work at naval base

[highplainsdem]

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051020/APN/510201349&cachetime=3&template=dateline

Illegal workers allegedly hired for recovery work at naval base

By CAIN BURDEAU
Associated Press Writer

October 20, 2005


Immigration agents detained a large number of illegal immigrants working for a Halliburton subcontractor hired to do Hurricane Katrina recovery work, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu's office said on Thursday.

The workers - numbering possibly more than 100 - were involved in setting up a tent city at a Navy base just outside New Orleans when they were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Wednesday, according to Landrieu's office.

The Birmingham, Ala.-based subcontractor, BE&K, was awarded the work by Halliburton, which won contracts after Katrina to repair several military bases in the hard-hit Gulf Coast region, said Adam Sharp, a Landrieu spokesman.

"It is a downright shame that any contractor would use this tragedy as an opportunity to line his pockets by breaking the law and hiring a low-skilled, low-wage and undocumented work force," Landrieu said in a statement.

<snip>

[kevinmc]

1. Thank You President Bush n/t

[bonito]

2. Since you brought this to light

can you point a finger to where there the solution is?

[aquart]

3. Well, how about contracting Louisiana or Mississippi companies?

Then insist they pay prevailing wages and hire Americans with first preference to the people of the area?

How would that work for you?

[samtob]

6. Opposing viewpoint here

Gotta chime in here...have not posted in a while :hi:

In the construction industry myself, do govt work...let me break this down for you why Davis Bacon requirements are not necessarily a good idea right now (for tax payers, you and me)

Contractor X gets a subcontractor agreement to perform work for Shaw, they are required to pay $20 per hour (just using this figure as an example of prevailing wage) on top of that, they have to charge their labor burden (taxes, insurance, workers comp etc) in addition to that, they are allowed a profit margin percentage.

For conversation sake, let's just say they are allowed to charge 30% profit on the $20.00 per hour, and the labor burden of $20.00 per hour (depending on the construction type, that is not out of line to pay 1.00 burden for every 1.00 payroll)

I don't think I have to do the math for anyone here...the expense to the tax payer is much higher, and the profit for the contractor is also a larger dollar amount.

Now, as far as the contractors hiring illegals...some of them may be getting away with paying them low....low being minimum wage. But for the most part, the illegals are not working for less than $10 per hour, they refuse to. I have competitors that are bitchin because the illegals are refusing to work for less. I laugh at them and tell them it is about time we are on the same playing field.

In regards to hiring only local contractors.....there are not enough contractors or laborers in the affected areas to put the pieces back together again. I have been contacted by several associates / friend contractors in MS, LA and TX requesting we move our crews down for the winter. Too much work, not enough help, and believe me, there are plenty of what we call "storm chasers" in that area already.

The magnitude of the destruction from Katrina and Rita are beyond imagination, and beyond the capabilities of the contractors in those states.

[sandnsea]

12. I don't care

I'm happy for my tax dollars to pay a fair wage. The contractors are going to make off with a bundle of money either way you cut it, we've seen the amount of money this administration throws around. The taxpayer is going to be fucked either way. I am so sick of nobody giving a shit about any of this money until it comes to paying people. That's why we have the laws, because people used to know business was going to fuck you anyway and demanded that the worker at least got their share too.

[fasttense]

14. Not sure I agree with you.

"In regards to hiring only local contractors.....there are not enough contractors or laborers in the affected areas to put the pieces back together again."

If there are not enough, why are they firing local subcontractors?

Lou Dobbs interviewed Al Knight and Mike Moran who were hired by a Halliburton subsidiary to supply electricians for work at the Belle Chasse Naval Air Station in Louisiana. They were hired at the prevailing wage for 20 months of work, but once they started, they were asked to train low paid, unskilled workers who spoke no English. After three weeks on the job, they claim they were fired.

Al Knight and Mike Moran testified before Congress

Al Knight testified that he believed his workers, who were local, qualified electricians, 92 percent of whom were impacted by the Hurricanes Katrina or Rita, were dismissed as a direct result of the Davis-Bacon Act waiver.

He said he believed that the reason they were dismissed from the project is simply because lower wages were being paid to out of state workers. They were working on the federal government facility with 75 electricians. The only thing that their workers wanted and they paid was the same wage that they had before the hurricane ever hit. The original agreement initially, was for 75 qualified electricians, for a 20 month contract, seven days a week, 12 hour a days.

Mike Moran, general foreman, was teaching people English there too. He said that he was trying to teach them how to do electrical work and teach them how to speak a little English.

They were asked to leave the job on October 1.

Sounds to me that the illegals just pushed these two subcontractors out of work.

Here's a link: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0510/18/ldt.01.html

[samtob]

21. Not sure of this situation

This is the first I have heard of this particular situation...I can not answer to what happened, or why they were fired. Not sure you can get the whole story from listening to one side either.

It sounds like the prime contractor on the job could be pulling a fast one on these guys for sure.

I am sooooooooooo not an advocate for illegals in the job force.

I have fought against low ball pricing in my area for five years now, due to our competition hiring illegals, and operating below the law. They don't pay SS, Insurance, Workers Comp, unemployment, etc for the illegal help, thus they have no labor burden.

BUT, by them doing this, their quality of work goes to hell as they may have cheap labor, but they are also unskilled, and the communication barrier prevents proper training.

Quality has kept us in business. Finally, it is no longer such a bonus to hire illegals, as they will not take rock bottom pay.

[Blaq Dem]

15. No matter how you say it, IT's STILL ILLEGAL

(1) Migrant workers who came here illegally is breaking the law. Where's the respect?

(2) Companies such as Haliburton who hire them is also breaking the law.

(3) It does no one good. Workers are treated like slaves. Local people have to compete with lower wages and less benefits. And when that happens, other businesses won't have any customers because no one have the money to buy their products.

Tell us how a family in hurricane hit areas supposed to rebuild their lives on such little below minimum wage jobs?

[samtob]

23. I am with you on this

I am against hiring illegals...period!

All companies who hire illegals should be punished.

Ummm....never said that a family should have to rebuild with minimum wages. I am totally against illegals being employed.

Let me say again however, illegals are no longer accepting minimum wage in construction jobs. the lowest I have heard is $8.00 per hour, and that is for someone who JUST got here. The going rate is $10.00 per hour. BUT, as I said in another post, the break comes for the employer, because he does not have the labor burden of workers comp, unemployement, SS etc.

It is wrong on many levels. IMO

[Toots]

18. Any employer will tell you things would be cheaper if they could pay less

to their employees. I say BS. That is looking at things with a very short sighted approach. The idea is to rebuild America and you do not do that by undermining the laborer. You get what you pay for......

[samtob]

20. It really does cost more....

In regards to "legal" employees, as I listed above, there are expenses employers have to pay to have employees "labor burden". I did not even mention SS contribution.

Insurance (general liability, workers comp, unemployment) are all based on the dollar amounts paid to employees. The more you pay out, either in higher individual wages, or greater number of employees, the more you pay for the above listed.

Having said all that, there are contractors tarping houses down there that are making mega money from FEMA. I am sure you have all seen the articles of the abuse going on with FEMA money, sorry, that irritates me. I could have sent our crews down to take advantage of this situation, and would be raking in the FEMA cash right now. Frankly I find it unethical.

Davis Bacon wages are not typically paid unless it is on a govt project. BUT, I can pretty much guarantee, there are not employees working for reputable companies there that took a pay cut...no way.

Here is a kicker, when we do govt work, our employees are never paid Davis Bacon wages....that would be taking a pay cut for them. My crews would not be happy taking a $2 to $7 per hour pay cut just for the privilege of working on a govt building.

[samtob]

24. poorly written statement

"our employees are never paid Davis Bacon wages"

I should have stated, our employees are never paid the Davis Bacon wage for our classification"

They are paid more.

[CrispyQ]

27. Yeah, and any money saved can be spent in Iraq where we are

making progress & money is well spent. :sarcasm:

I don't know much about economics or construction, but it seems we have plenty of money to spend for everything but worker wages. Why doesn't Halliburton's CEO take a wage cut? Or sacrifice his fucking stock options for a year or two? Or better yet, donate the profits of those options to the entire NOLA project.

Arghh! Not pissed at you, just the entire system of everyone but the common man gets a piece of the pie. Greedy assholes, all of them.

[samtob]

30. I hear ya

and I admit there are contractors working under some of the prime contractors that are bringing in and exploiting illegals, and making big bucks doing it.

We will be there this winter, not doing govt work however, PLUS, we will be paying our crews MORE than they make here as we will be dragging them away from family etc.

I am a bit disgruntled with the govt as they did not open the bids up for SBA contractors. We were forced to deal with Haliburton type primes...and they already had their subs in line.

Typically there is a percentage of set aside, or SBA, or 8A only bid slots, but that did not happen this time as it was a no bid contract.

:mad:

[mopinko]

5. it's called the davis-bacon act

which was suspended immediately after the storm. if you are paying good money, you do not have to hire illegals to do it.

[anotherdrew]

4. owwww. she just cut dick right off. well done!

[Daphne08]

7. Anyone who believes that the hiring of illegals isn't hurting

American workers should come to Southern California!

[FormerRepublican]

8. Is she kidding? They planned this!

That's why the Davis-Bacon act was suspended - so Halliburton could hire their boys to do the job, but still make mega-bucks.

[NVMojo]

9. I agree ...it was planned ....

[ngGale]

10. Since when does Halliburton not line their pockets...

I thought that was a known fact.

[annabanana]

11. Yet another WHAT THE FUCK moment brought to you by

the Folks at the White House..

[Blaq Dem]

13. Whatever happened to NATIONAL SECURITY?

I don't mind immigrants coming to this country to work (legally), but I don't see anyone doing any background checks. A mad terrorist can hop over the border, infiltrate a city (or naval base, for that matter), and do some heavy damage. This is so inexplicable how this government rewards illegal behavior. And it's definitely not fair to millions of hurricane evacuees who wish to rebuild their lives but find themselves jobless because this sort of corporate greed.

This further shows the Bush administration doesn't give a damn about American people nor the safety of this country. And Congress should be ashame of themselves for not showing any concern.

[annabanana]

16. nom........n/t

[annabanana]

17. Can you put "halliburton" in the thread title (in parentheses?).n/t

[highplainsdem]

19. I tried when I posted this yesterday, but it wouldn't fit.

I'd've had to remove a word from the headline, and my understanding of the LBN rules is that we aren't supposed to do that.

[earth mom]

22. Landrieu is at WAR with * & Fema & Halliburton!

GO MARY! Fight this exploitation of workers on both sides of the fence! :bounce:

[Megahurtz]

25. Anything for Cheap Labor.

:sarcasm:

[Ouabache]

26. there oughta be a law

It seems to me one of the problems is that there is no limit to how many levels of sub-contracting are allowable. Seems there ought to be a limit. If Halliburton says they can do it, and essentially win the no-bid contract through their corrupt vice-presidential connections, then they OUGHT TO FUCKING DO IT. No sub-contracting. Sub-contracting has just become a a convenient ruse to skirt prevailing wage laws and to HIRE ILLEGALS. I am sure we will find that Halliburton is not liable for ILLEGALS getting hired but rather -how convenient- there sub-contractor probably will be liable. Then again, if the DOJ gets a call from the undisclosed location about it, the matter probably just disappears.

All this sub-contracting, privatization bullshit is just being used to avoid any accountability to labor and immigration laws. That is so fucking obvious.

[sarcasmo]

28. I am sure MR Danger will say that's work no Americans wanted to do.

[Pirate Smile]

29. I posted about this the other day. While there was a lot of talk re

Davis Bacon getting suspended, the suspension of immigration-enforcement sanctions didn't receive the same attention.

"FYI - not only did BushCo suspend Davis Bacon, they also suspended
Edited on Thu Oct-20-05 12:04 AM by Pirate Smile

immigration-enforcement sanctions.

I somehow missed this when Bush did it. I did hear Lou Dobbs (who else would) mention it tonight on his show and I was surprised this hadn't been a bigger deal.



Illegal aliens build new life among ruin

By JAY ROOT and AARON C. DAVIS
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS

-snip-
Welcome to the post-Katrina Gulf Coast, the nation's latest immigration magnet.

Lured here by the promise of fat paychecks and an emergency federal decree temporarily suspending immigration-enforcement sanctions, they sleep in tents, crowded hotel rooms and sometimes even in parking lots. They're hauling trash and cutting trees, fastening tarps to damaged roofs and tearing out wet Sheetrock from thousands of soaked buildings.

It started out as a trickle. But over time, Hurricane Katrina has unleashed a flood of immigrants - some legal, some not - into coastal communities from Florida, Texas, California, North Carolina and other immigrant-rich states.

Many are natives of Mexico or Central America, but some come from as far away as Brazil. Hundreds of Latino immigrants could be found last week crammed into the Best Western in downtown New Orleans, where LVI Services, an environmental remediation company based in New York, was packing them in three and four to a room.

Hundreds more LVI workers were staying at a Shoney's Inn in nearby Metairie, said company representatives in New Orleans, who didn't want to be identified for fear of losing their jobs for talking to reporters. Calls placed to LVI weren't returned.

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/12887684.htm

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5109439

So the companies can't be punished. BushCo always takes care of his homies - the Corporations.

[Nothing Without Hope]

31. This is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!!! Please repost on it, we need

to bring this to light. I missed your first try to get this noticed. I'll help support the thread and send headsup to some other people if you repost and PM me to let me know. This MUST not be allowed to go under the radar!!!

[Nothing Without Hope]

32. The other half of the issue - ***THE LOWERED MINIMUM WAGE ORDER:***

here's the latest thread on this abomination, which the Dems are fighting:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1866104
thread title: Democrat forces US House vote on Bush wage order

Here's some back story on this sorry, greedy attempt by the Bushies to legalize sub-minimum, poverty-level wages:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1866104#1868652

The GOP say the order to lower minimum wage in the Katrina area is to benefit local residents who need jobs, but of course, like the move to block enforcement of illegal alien influx, it's all to line the pockets of Bush Admin corporate cronies like Halliburton and its subcontractors.

[Nothing Without Hope]

33. *** BUSH's ORDER to SUSPEND IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT SANCTIONS***

A new thread has been started on Bush's order making this legal. We need to gather the background, the text of the executive orders, and everything that clarifies what is really happening and build it into a research resource. Then we need to GET THE TRUTH OUT. It's another part of the pocket-lining plans, like so many others such as the lowered minimum wage for Katrina workers.

Here's the new thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5129017
Thread title: BushCo. SUSPENDED immigration-enforcement sanctions against Companies

If you know of more articles or other relevant material, please come contribute!