Dept. of Labor reaches settlement for $5 million in back wages for workers on federally assisted project

The U.S. Department of Labor and MDG Design & Construction LLC have reached a settlement over wage violations atthe federally-assisted 26-story Grand Street Guild rehab project in New York City’s Lower East Side. MDG and other firms involved will pay $3.8 million in back wages and fringe benefits to about 200 of MDG’s subcontractors’ construction workers.

Previous investigations led to the repayment of more than $1.1 million in back wages to 300 laborers and mechanics who worked for MDG’s subcontractors.The contractors have also agreed to expansive compliance measures to prevent future violations.

The labor department’s Wage and Hour Division found numerous Davis-Bacon and Related Acts violations by MDG subcontractors, including failure to pay required prevailing wages and submitting inaccurate or falsified payroll records to the government. As part of the settlement, MDG will retain an independent monitor for three years with responsibilities for conducting regular reviews of the company and its subcontractors to confirm compliance with applicable wage and hour laws on all prevailing wage and federally-assisted projects.

In addition to MDG, the settlement agreement includes Charis Consulting LLC, Kona Contracting LLC, as well as Michael Rooney and Nicola DeAcetis — owners of all three companies — and Neys Escobar, an owner of Kona. All of the companies are based in Huntington Station, N. Y.

(http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/whd/WHD20140967.htm)

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.