Thread: FL-Arena contractor accused of wage violations,using illegal

Arena contractor accused of wage violations, using illegal labor
By Mark Schlueb
June 11, 2009

City officials have accused one of the biggest contractors working on the new Orlando Magic arena of underpaying more than 100 workers — and angry union leaders say the company is also hiring undocumented workers to build the team's home court.

Orlando officials overseeing the construction of the $480 million city-owned venue say Capform Inc. violated city policies meant to ensure that workers in the construction trades are paid a fair wage. The city discovered the violations in February during routine reviews of payroll records, special projects manager Janeiro Coulter said.

Capform was awarded a $19.8million contract to build the concrete superstructure of the new arena on West Church Street and Division Avenue. It began work in October and will be largely finished by the end of the month.

The city requires contractors and subcontractors to pay their workers the local "prevailing wage" for the job they are doing. In some cases, Capform improperly classified workers under lower-skill job titles that carry a lower salary, Coulter said.



After city officials notified the company of the violations, some workers were given back pay to make up the difference. But Coulter said Capform disputes one violation that affects multiple workers who were classified as "carpenter's helpers" rather than "carpenters." The city has ordered the company to pay back wages, which amount to the difference between $11 and $13.08 per hour.

Jim Renaud, vice president of the Carrollton, Texas-based company, disputes that account. He said Capform resolved all of the problems, which he called "clerical errors" that were the result of workers transferred from other job sites with different pay scales. Workers were paid an average of about $200 each in back pay, he said.

"Within a week or so of being notified of the problem, we paid those back wages," Renaud said. "I am not aware of any unresolved issues."

Renaud blamed the controversy on labor unions, which he accused of running a disinformation campaign against Capform.

In fact, members of the Florida Carpenters Regional Council union have been picketing outside Magic playoff games to protest labor violations. Business manager Robert McCoy said Capform has a history of underpaying its workers. He also accused the company of hiring undocumented workers.

"Probably 75 percent of the people working there are from Mexico, not Orlando. The whole point of this project was to provide long-term, sustainable economic development," said McCoy, adding that promised apprenticeship training programs haven't materialized.

City records show that 162 of the company's 180 employees were minorities as of April, the most recent month available. Some 97 percent of the worker hours reported by the company were performed by Hispanic employees, and the rest by black employees.

Renaud said all of the company's workers present identification when they're hired and file a federal form saying they're eligible to work in the United States.

"That's what the federal government says we have to do, and that's what we do," he said.

Even so, it's not the first time Capform has been accused of using undocumented labor. In 2002, U.S. Border Patrol agents in Jacksonville took into custody nine men found in a van registered to Capform, which was working on that city's Veterans Memorial Arena at the time. And in 2003, federal officers arrested about 60 suspected illegal immigrant workers building a federal courthouse in Miami, most of them employed by Capform; at least 32 were deported, according to news reports.

Mark Schlueb can be reached at mschlueb@orlandosentinel.com


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Okay Nappy... there's already documentation, go after the EMPLOYER! ENFORCE THE ( LITTLE BIT) OF LAW STILL ALLOWED!

Renaud said all of the company's workers present identification when they're hired and file a federal form saying they're eligible to work in the United States.

"That's what the federal government says we have to do, and that's what we do," he said.

More PROOF that I9 forms are useless without VERIFICATION!