US firms accused of exploiting workers in post-hurricane recovery effort

[Judi Lynn]

US firms accused of exploiting workers in post-hurricane recovery effort
(AFP)

18 October 2005

WASHINGTON- Some contractors leading reconstruction projects in the hurricane-hit southern United States have badly exploited workers and taken away business from local firms, Senate Democrats and labor groups said on Monday.

Housing for workers often lacks running water and contractors have failed to provide food, training and wage rates as promised, James Hale, vice president with the Laborers’ International Union of North America, told a policy conference of opposition Democrats in the US Senate.

In one case, workers had not been paid for three weeks and at another site there were allegations that security guards were mistreating laborers, said Hale, who supported his allegations with photographs.

An electrician and foreman with Knight Enterprises cried as he recounted how his team of workers were kicked out of government tents by an out-of-state firm and forced to sleep in their cars.
(snip/...)

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2005/October/theworld_October469.xml§ion=theworld&col=

[Pooka Fey]

1. A fish rots from the head down. n/t

[shanti]

2. well, this is a surprise....

not. :eyes:

[Solly Mack]

3. and I suppose no one could anticipate this either

[mom cat]

4. Link problem

Site comes up but instead of the article, I get this error message:

Microsoft VBScript runtime error '800a01a8'

Object required: 'sn'

/DisplayArticle.asp, line 108

[SoCalDem]

5. The out of towner corporations are taking advantage of the whole situation

They know that due to the massive destruction, local companies are affected by damage too, and their employees may be scattered.Their tools and equipment damaged or lost in the storms.. Instead of swooping in and HELPING, these vultures swooped in and claimed work that should have gone to locals. It's mostly too late now, because the early birds get the worms..

It;s too bad that the local construction/clean-up people didn't band together and protest en masse.. Maybe it's not too late.. they need to present a unified protest and they need to be raucous and civilly-disobedient to get the press they need to make a difference..

The "Big-Boys" are counting on them all slinking off to lick their wounds, and being "obedient"

[hughee99]

7. To some degree, it's understandable...

You need to get services to those in need as quickly as possible. Do you tell someone who is suffering that while the out of state firm could deliver in 2 weeks, they have to wait 1 month while the local firm gets their employees back and their equipment working? I'm not sticking up for many of the things that have been going on here, I'm just saying that I can understand why out of state firms are getting many of the early contracts.

[SoCalDem]

9. I don;t really have a problem with that either, BUT..when the conrtracts

are NO-BID, and are passed uot while the wind is still blowing..and the contracts are for YEARS' worth of work, I get annoyed..

The storm did NOT knock out ALL Mississippi, Louisians, Alabama businesses.. There were (and are) companies in areas 50-100 miles away from the damaged areas, and THEY should have gotten equal consideration..

and the contracts should have been for limited amounts of time..and have been limited in scope..

perhaps the vulnerable states need to set up their own contingency plans for companies to be "pre-approved" and able to roll in with their own teams to clean up..

There is a lot of federal money flowing into undeserving pockets, and after the BIG BUCKS have been siphoned off, these vultures will move on, and there will be a big mess left behind...to be cleaned up on the cheap because the money's been spent..

[hughee99]

10. I agree

I think they should probably have a bidding process before the next disaster (naturally leaving out some of the specifics that will have to be dealt with at the time) for pre-approvals as you suggested.

[Javaman]

6. Baghdad on the Mississippi.

Read sometime how halliburton and all the other corps over in Iraq treat the foreign workers.

Just like the military "gitmotized" abu garib, it appears as if halliburton has "Baghdadized" New Orleans.

[Behind the Aegis]

8. This will sound callous.

Not knowing the political affiliation of the people being screwed over, chances are they are Republicans. Do you think, when the voting time rolls around, they will remember these lessons? Will they realize that the Republican party elites do not care about them, but that they only care about their interests and lining their pockets, even at the expense of their base?

[rodeodance]

11. US firms accused of exploiting workers in post-hurricane recovery effort

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/usweatherstormkatrina;_ylt=ArE_K0_9EieO0v7ALTcf1D6s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ-


US firms accused of exploiting workers in post-hurricane recovery effort

Tue Oct 18, 2:18 PM ET



......"Most of our workers, some of whom had lost their homes to the two hurricanes (Katrina and Rita), were sleeping in their personal vehicles and showering in a car wash located on base," Mike Moran said.

Moran's employer was given a 20-month contract to provide power to a camp for military personnel but the contract was cancelled after 17 days.

Knight Enterprises alleges the contract was terminated because the firm was paying the prevailing hourly wage and an outside contractor that was hired paid its workers a lower wage.

After Hurricane Katrina struck on August 29, President George W. Bush to waived regulations that require contractors to pay the prevailing or average wage in a region.......