Over Dozen Fort Hamilton Construction Workers Recover $475K in Wages
by Brooklyn Eagle (edit@brooklyneagle.net), published online 11-07-2008

BAY RIDGE - The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered more than $475,000 in back wages for 70 employees of two prime contractors and four subcontractors that had been employed by the U.S. Army to do construction and renovations on buildings at its Fort Hamilton base in Bay Ridge.
The Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division district office in New York City investigated allegations that prime contractor Geomatrix Services Inc. and its subcontractors, Construction & Contracting Zone Inc. (CC&Z) and TWA Mechanical LLC, had failed to pay construction laborers proper prevailing wage rates in violation of the federal law.

The same office also investigated allegations that prime contractor Jeffrey M. Brown Associates Inc. and its subcontractors, New Color Brush Inc. and ADCO Electrical Corp., had failed to pay workers proper prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits, and that some workers were owed overtime back wages.

"In all, our investigations found that 70 employees of these contractors were due a total of $475,685 in back wages," said Wage and Hour Division New York City District Director Philip Jacobson.

Fifteen workers are receiving back wages under both laws.

CC&Z refused to pay the back wages found due its employees, but prime contractor Geomatrix agreed to pay 13 employees of CC&Z a total of $262,000 in back wages. Geomatrix also paid one of its own employees $9,373. TWA agreed to pay five of its workers $9,281 in back wages.

The other prime contractor (on another project at Fort Hamilton), Jeffrey M. Brown Associates Inc., agreed to pay 15 of its employees $37,250 in prevailing wages and fringe benefits, and $6,481 in required overtime back wages.

Subcontractor New Color Brush Inc. paid 18 employees $51,009 in DBA wages and benefits, and eight workers $2,322 in CWHSSA back wages. ADCO Electrical Corp. paid $95,182 in wages and benefits to 18 of its employees, and $2,789 in back wages to seven workers.

Federal law requires that workers on government construction projects be paid no less than the wages and fringe benefits determined to be prevailing for corresponding work on similar projects in the area. Furthermore, the law requires that contractors and subcontractors on covered contracts pay laborers and mechanics employed in the performance of the contracts one and one-half times their basic rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.