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VERIZON IS HIDING BEHIND LAYERS
OF CONTRACTORS AND SUBCONTRACTORS
Low-wage workers are digging the ditches for Verizon's
high-speed FiOS communications network. Instead of hiring these
workers directly, though, Verizon is relying on a vast network of
contractors and subcontractors to get the work done.
 The
problem is that some of Verizon's subcontractors are cheating the
workers out of their hard-earned wages, and Verizon isn't doing
enough to stop them. Instead of accepting responsibility, Verizon
has been putting all the blame on the subcontractors. In 2006, Verizon's
senior vice president for network services, Chris Creager, told
a Washington Post reporter, "I certainly feel badly...[but] the
responsibility lies directly with the person they are working for."
(1)
In 2007, a group of workers represented by the
Legal Aid Justice Center won a judgment worth more than $125,000
against Verizon subcontractor Vision Tech Services, LLC and Christhian
Sanchez. (2) By the start of this campaign, however, the workers
had not been able to collect any of their money.
In a separate case, eleven workers represented
by the Legal Aid Justice Center filed suit against their contractor,
Anthony Maxwell, to recover their unpaid wages. In March 2007, these
workers won a judgment for more than $40,000. (3) By the start of this campaign, however, the workers had only been able to collect
slightly more than $3,000 of this judgment.
In May 2008, the workers and their advocates requested
a meeting with Verizon to discuss the large number of cases of unpaid
wages for workers digging trenches on Verizon's FiOS project. Verizon
declined to meet with the workers, and instead referred them to
one of Verizon's lawyers.
On June 2, 2008 the workers and their advocates
sent a letter to the company's lawyer, requesting Verizon take responsibility
for ensuring that workers on Verizon projects are properly compensated
for their work. As a first step, the letter asked for Verizon to
arrange payment to the workers of the outstanding federal court
judgment against Anthony Maxwell no later than June 12, 2008. No
response was received from Verizon by the deadline.
On June 17, 2008, seven more workers on Verizon's
FiOS project filed a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court
for the District of Maryland against NTI, LLC, and other contractors
and subcontractors on Verizon's project. The lawsuit alleges that
the contractors failed to properly compensate the workers for their
work digging trenches and installing fiber optic cable and includes
claims under both state and federal law. The workers are represented
by lawyers from CASA of Maryland, Inc., the Washington Lawyers'
Committee for Civil Rights, and the law firm of Brown, Goldstein,
and Levy, LLP. (4)
There are many more reports of Verizon's subcontractors
cheating workers out of their pay. And so far, Verizon has refused
to take full responsibility.
That's the problem.
Verizon’s Work = Verizon’s
Responsibility
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