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Slippery Rock work illustrates problem
By Richard Gazarik
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, July 23, 2006

David Rascioli was surprised to learn his Social Security number was listed on a payroll under the name of a Mexican worker employed on a dormitory construction project at Slippery Rock University.

"That's my number," said Rascioli, of Sturbridge, Mass., when it was read to him.

The number supposedly belonged to Julio Jimenez, who was employed by 21st Century Framing of Atwater, Ohio, a firm subcontracted to work on the $76 million project in Butler County last fall.

Rascioli said he does not know Jimenez, but suspects the information was obtained when his truck was stolen. He said it contained his wallet with all his identification.

The dorm project is an example of the impact of illegal workers in the U.S.

The state Department of Labor and Industry is investigating the contractor at the Slippery Rock project for violating the state's prevailing wage law. Under state law, any government-related project costing more than $25,000 requires workers be paid the "prevailing wage," a rate set by the government that varies by job category.

Foreign workers -- both legal and illegal -- were hired at reduced wages to work on the Slippery Rock project, according to a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review investigation.

In addition to the number used by Jiminez, the Social Security numbers of other workers on the Slippery Rock project also are suspected of being fraudulent or stolen. A check of the numbers by the Trib discovered:

Aurielio Jernandez had a number that belonged to an 86-year-old Ohio man who died in 1991.

Esteban Arguello had a number belonging to a 72-year-old woman in Rocky Hill, Conn.

No government records could be found for the Social Security numbers claimed for three other workers, Darwin Valesqueza, Javier Dimas and Mario Torres, suggesting the numbers might be fictitious.

Rene Castillo Jr. used a number belonging to a 44-year-old woman from Tulia, Texas.

Jose Martinez Serrano and Jose Manuel Lizardo also worked for 21st Century Framing and listed addresses in Chicora, Butler County, and now-disconnected phone numbers in Columbus, Ohio. Neither man had Social Security numbers, according to payroll records.

Mario Navarro, an illegal immigrant, also worked at Slippery Rock and later at Westminster College, a private school in Lawrence County, said his attorney, John McTiernan, of Pittsburgh. He said Navarro has been living in the U.S. illegally for 15 years.
Barry Ciccocioppo, a Labor and Industry spokesman, said the investigation focuses on prevailing-wage rates. The subject of the Slippery Rock investigation is the general contractor, Bridges/Mistick, a joint venture between Bridges and Mistick Construction firms, both of Pittsburgh. The state says Bridges/Mistick is liable because they subcontracted the work to 21st Century Framing.

Tom Mistick, president of the firm, did not respond to a request for comment.

In May, Gov. Ed Rendell signed House Bill 2319 -- known formally as the Prohibition of Illegal Alien Labor on Assisted Project Act.

If a company hires an illegal alien on any project funded by state grants or loans, the employer will be required to repay the money to the state.

Rendell signed the bill in May and it went into effect earlier this month.

The Federation for Immigration Reform said Pennsylvania is following a national trend by increasingly employing foreign workers for construction jobs. The organization estimates 1.8 million state workers have been displaced in jobs by illegal immigrants, said spokeswoman Susan Wysoki.

At Slippery Rock, some Hispanic workers put in 50 to 70 hours a week. Instead of being paid the prevailing wage of $23.23, they were paid between $11 and $16.50 an hour with no overtime or fringe benefits. No taxes were deducted from their wages, according to payroll records obtained by the Trib.

"It's not at all surprising," said Kirk Johnson, an expert in labor and immigration issues at the Heritage Foundation. He said the construction industry has a track record of hiring these workers for framing, hanging drywall and roofing.

Labor and Industry tried to locate former Hispanic workers who worked at Slippery Rock to determine if they were paid the prevailing wage rates, but more than half of the questionnaires were returned because of bogus addresses, said Ciccocioppo.

The Heritage Foundation's Johnson says the current U.S. policy encourages the exploitation of foreign workers. Instead, he said, there should be a system requiring employers to post bonds for workers they hire to ensure they return home when their work permits expire. Too many workers simply stay in the U.S. and are difficult to track as they move from job to job and state to state, he said.

Baltazar DeLeon Jr., of Los Fresnos, Texas, a U.S. citizen with Mexican roots, also worked at Slippery Rock. He said many of the workers were from "way deep in Mexico" and carried phony documents or had no documents at all.

DeLeon said he was hired after responding to an ad in a Brownsville, Texas, newspaper looking for workers for Pennsylvania construction projects that paid $11 an hour, he told the Trib.

He and nine other men paid $150 each to a labor broker in Brownsville to travel to Pennsylvania, where they went to work at Slippery Rock, DeLeon said.

He knew Julio Jimenez was in the U.S. illegally and had a fraudulent Social Security number because Jimenez told him.

"He said he didn't care," DeLeon said.


Richard Gazarik can be reached at rgazarik@tribweb.com or (724) 830-6292.