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Investigation focuses on Ohio masonry firm
June 15, 2006
COAL TOWNSHIP — A state Department of Labor and Industry spokesman said the general contractor overseeing work at a Coal Township construction site “voluntarily” stopped work at the site after a Wednesday morning raid by agency inspectors and local law enforcement officers.

“We were there to investigate a complaint that child labor laws were being violated,” Barry Ciccocioppo, press secretary for the Department of Labor and Industry.

The agency’s investigation is focused on the practices of a masonry firm, DW Masonry, hired by the general contractor, Hanlin-Rinaldi Construction. Both firms are based in Columbus, Ohio.

“We were there to investigate a complaint that child labor laws were being violated,” Barry Ciccocioppo, press secretary for the Department of Labor and Industry.

Since the general constractor shut down the site voluntarily, as soon as officials with that business can document that they are following the labor laws, work can resume.

Initial reports suggested that charges arising from the raid could be filed as soon as today. But Mr. Ciccocioppo said it would “unusual” for things to proceed that quickly.

The contractors didn’t have the necessary paperwork for the inspectors to check, he said. So a part of the investigation will have to be devoted to gathering those documents or otherwise determining if the labor laws were violated.

The Labor and Industry inspectors will be checking to see if the child labor laws, minimum wage and overtime rules were followed.

There were reportedly 24 workers at the site when the inspectors arrived, and those workers scattered. Eighteen of the workers were rounded up and interviewed. Three of them were under the age of 18.

Mr. Ciccocioppo said that minors are allowed to work on construction sites as long as they are not operating heavy machinery. They are also limited to eight hours of work a day and 44 hours a week.

While there were allegations that some of the workers at the site may have also lacked documentation to show that they are legal immigrants, any investigation into that matter would be handled by the federal Citizenship and Immigration Service. That agency was not involved in Wednesday’s raid, Northumberland County district attorney Tony Rosini said. Local officials had sought the cooperation of the immigration service, but were told that the federal agency needed two weeks notice to provide personnel.

Local officials were concerned that the contractor would be finished and gone before two weeks passed, so they proceeded without the Citizenship and Immigration Service and instead sought the assistance of the Department of Labor and Industry.