Thread: MA: Illegal or not, immigrants want pay

Illegal or not, immigrants want pay
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By Liz Mineo/Daily News staff
GHS
Posted Mar 15, 2009 @ 12:08 AM

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Local immigrant advocates are growing concerned about a trend among cleaning subcontractors of failing to pay wages to their undocumented workers and of threatening them with reporting them to immigration authorities, if they complain.

Workers have brought their grievances against two Massachusetts-based subcontractors and two national cleaning firms to Framingham's MetroWest Immigrant Worker Center, which is helping them file complaints with the Attorney General's Fair Labor Division to get their wages paid.

An attorney with Greater Boston Legal Service is representing the workers.

Eight individual complaints have been filed since last year against Capital Cleaning Contractors, a national cleaning company; Hospitality Staffing Solutions, based in Virginia, and Boston Office Cleaning, Inc., and Capital New England Hospitality, Inc., the latter two owned by Brazilians and Massachusetts-based subcontractors with Capital Cleaning Contractors.

The phone number for Boston Office Cleaning was not in service, and calls to Capital New England Hospitality were not returned. Allen Krystal, corporate counsel of Capital Cleaning Contractors, said the complainants didn't work for his company.

"These people were employed by various subcontractors, and each of the subcontractors has signed written agreements with our company to pay workers according to the law," he said. "If we're contacted by the Attorney General's Office, it's our intention to cooperate with any investigation."

Mauricio Ramirez, staff vice president of Hospitality Staffing Solutions, said his company doesn't hire subcontractors and that all his workers have been paid their wages. He said his company has provided records for one of the eight complainants showing the company has paid her wages.

"We have no need to keep anyone's money," said Ramirez. "Our records show we paid what it was owed."

The amount of money involved is small - between $500 and $1,000 per each worker - but advocates are troubled by what they see as a common business practice by the subcontractors named in the complaints.

"What is singular about them is how systematically they engaged in not paying the workers and how ruthless and aggressive they were in threatening those who complained," said Low. "The subcontractors have terrified people who dared to pursue their wage payments."

A Brazilian woman who worked for a subcontractor can attest to that. The woman, who is illegally in the country, doesn't want to be identified for fear of retaliation from her former employer. She was hired to clean hotel rooms in Cambridge for $8 an hour and was paid four of the six months she worked for a Brazilian man who ran one of the subcontracting companies.

"When I complained, he told me I'd better keep quiet because I didn't have documents," said the woman. "He was exploiting us, making us work and not paying us. It was like we were his slaves."

Many illegal immigrants work in the cleaning industry, which relies on subcontractors to do the job at cheaper rates and help them circumvent the laws that forbid hiring illegal workers. Cases of abuse are common, and it's not unheard that immigrants take advantage of their fellow country men and women.

"Brazilians who have documents take advantage of those who don't," said the woman. "They feel they're better than the undocumented."

Of the complaints, Harry Pierre, spokesman with the Attorney General's Office, declined to comment citing the agency's policy of not talking about cases under investigation.

The office's fair labor division handles workers' wages complaints and mediates between them and their employers. In some cases, the division issues citations and fines to employers for violation of state laws. The division handles complaints regardless of workers' immigration status, said Pierre, and has done outreach work with immigrant organizations in the Boston area.

"We don't ask people about their legal status," he said. "That's ICE's responsibility. Our jurisdiction is to make sure that an employee gets paid the wages for the hours he or she worked."

Despite what the law says, many undocumented workers are afraid to complain, said attorney Audrey Richardson, of Greater Boston Legal Services. Richardson represents workers in the eight complaints before the Attorney General's Fair Labor Division.

In the past, her agency and Allston's Brazilian Immigrant Center helped six different groups of workers get their wages paid through informal negotiations with the companies without filing complaints with the Attorney General's Office. The problem is bigger, she said, because many workers are reluctant to come forward. The fear is real, said Richardson.

"They have been told they have no rights if they're undocumented," said Richardson. "They have been threatened explicitly with immigration consequences, but the law is very clear. All workers who have performed work are fully entitled to their wages regardless of their immigration status."

By putting the spotlight on the trend among subcontractors of using their workers' illegal immigration status as a tool to avoid paying wages, advocates hope to influence companies' behavior and stop the practice of intimidation against workers.

The Brazilian woman, who received the money she was owed after the intervention of Low's center, now works at a restaurant and wants nothing to do with jobs in the cleaning industry.

"They pay little or they don't pay, they don't give lunch breaks and they treat you badly," she said. "There is too much exploitation and that has to end."

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"They have been told they have no rights if they're undocumented," said Richardson. "They have been threatened explicitly with immigration consequences, but the law is very clear. All workers who have performed work are fully entitled to their wages regardless of their immigration status."

I find it ironic that these people (IA advocates) can say "the law is very clear" with a straight face. The law is very clear when it comes to illegal aliens working in the US too, so how about we enforce that law? Why is one law ok to break, while another is not?

Employers who exploit anyone should pay the consequences. Illegal aliens who work in the US should also pay the consequences. The ONLY losers here are American taxpayers (US citizen and legal immigrants).

This is not a joke. I'm totally serious.
If I was doing something illegal, like buying illegal drugs, and the drug dealer ripped me off and sold me something else, and took my money, I could not sue him.
If I'm doing something illegal, like working and using a stolen SSN, then I CAN get legal help.
I know one is doing something illegal and "bad" and one is doing something illegal but considered by some to be "good" but really, what is the difference?
Why can illegal aliens take an employer to court for not paying them when the illegal is breaking the law by working?
If you buy illegal drugs, you take the chance that you might get screwed. It should be the same for illegal workers. If you work when you aren't legally entitled to work, and haven't earned the right to work, then you just might get screwed. Too bad.
But can someone explain to me why one can't be fought in court, but the other can? I'm not tryng to be dense, I just don't see how they can tell a judge they were financially hurt while breaking the law and not be deported.