Workers accuse public works contractor of shorting pay

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Aug 12, 2008 | by Paul T Rosynsky

OAKLAND -- A general contractor hired by cities around the Bay Area to build things from schools to city halls is being sued by its workers, who claim the company didn't follow the state's prevailing wage law and forced them to sign false timecards.

In a lawsuit filed July 17 in Alameda County Superior Court, NBC General Contractors Corp. is accused of ignoring state labor laws by paying its workers minimum wage rather than a predetermined rate required for public works projects.

In addition, NBC General Contractors is accused of failing to pay its workers overtime, forcing them to sign fake timecards in order to receive paychecks and refusing to provide wage statements when requested by employees.

"The violations that we are aware of seem to date back many years," said Oakland-based attorney Sharon Seidenstein, who filed the lawsuit along with labor attorney Ellyn Moscowitz. "The workers in this suit are fighting for justice "... and are demanding that NBC abide by the state's labor laws."

In general, state law requires contractors working on public works projects to pay their workers a set rate dependent on their job and skill level.

In Alameda County, prevailing wages for construction workers range from $10 an hour for a water well driller helper to $48 an hour for an electrician specializing in cable splicing and welding, according to the state's Department of Industrial Relations.

State law also requires all employers to pay workers overtime if the worker was on the job for more than 40 hours in one workweek.

But, according to the lawsuit, NBC General Contractors paid its workers below the prevailing rate with hourly wages ranging from $8 to $25 and refused to pay overtime even though many workers were required to report to a job site seven days a week.

Workers became aware of the violations after several left NBC General Contractors and became members of the IBEW Local 595 union in San Francisco. The union, according to a news release, notified NBC General Contractors workers that they were being mistreated.

Representatives of Oakland-based NBC General Contractors could not be reached for comment.

The company's Web site lists five projects it has worked on for area school districts for a total of $11.8 million. Those include the modernization of Skyline High School, Piedmont Elementary School and New Highland Elementary School in Oakland; Mt. Diablo High School in Concord; and Reed Union Schools in Tiburon.

The lawsuit states that the company has also worked on several projects for the Alameda Unified School District, Laney College, Walnut Creek City Hall and schools in San Francisco.

Seidenstein said the class-action lawsuit would potentially represent about 150 workers and seeks to recover millions of dollars in wages not paid and damages.

Reach Paul T. Rosynsky at 510-208-6455 or prosynsky@bayareanewsgroup.com.