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Don’t make the exception the rule

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Illinois

* AP…

The top federal official for worker safety says an Illinois businessman’s “outrageous behavior” of bringing in Mexican workers to remove asbestos without safety gear warrants fines of nearly $1.8 million.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration levied the fines Monday. Investigators found Joseph Kehrer, Kehrer Brothers Construction and a Kehrer-affiliated company, D7 Roofing, exposed workers to asbestos in violation of federal health standards.

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health David Michaels says the workers spoke no English and were threatened with firing if they spoke to investigators.

* More…

Many of the workers came to the U.S. to work for Kehrer under the provisions of the H-2B visa program that allows companies to hire foreign workers temporarily.

Ugh.

They are far from alone in abusing that federal visa program. I mean, do we really have such a severe construction worker shortage in this country that we have to import them?

* More…

In its citations, OSHA alleges that Kehrer and Kehrer Brothers Construction failed to:

Provide basic personal protective equipment such as hard hats, eyewear and protective clothing.
Create a decontamination area for employees to remove work clothing before leaving the worksite.
Use appropriate work methods to minimize asbestos exposure, such as removing tiles intact and using wet methods to keep asbestos fibers from becoming airborne.

* That company is no stranger to controversy…

Kehrer Brothers Roofing of Albers, Ill, lacked workers’ compensation coverage for its 12 crew members and was fined $3,600, Pechie said.

All of the Kehrer workers and 16 of the 20 Pinnacle workers were Mexican citizens with valid permanent residency cards to work in the United States, Pechie said.

It’s “aggressive” companies like this one which stand to benefit the most if we get rid of prevailing wage here.

Just sayin…

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 11:55 am

Comments

“It’s “aggressive” companies like this one which stand to benefit the most if we get rid of prevailing wage here.”

What else is there to say?

Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 11:58 am
Were they removing asbestos from a public facility or won a contract with a public agency? I don’t see how prevailing wage has anything to do with this.

Comment by What? Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 12:05 pm
And an aggressive causation standard for workers comp. also just sayin’…

Comment by Conn Smythe Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 12:07 pm
On the other hand, perhaps getting rid of PW will reduce the demand for foreign (non-complaining) low-wage workers.

Comment by old-pol Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 12:13 pm
Prevailing wage is only one of the issues with this story. Cutting corners, endangering workers, and threats regarding whistleblower protections should be of concern as well. Doing things “cheaply” incurs many real costs. Usually not for the company. You don’t want to see costs of taxes go up, punish these types of companies more severely. $3600 may have been the max allowed under law, but was it sufficient?

Comment by Anon221 Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 12:13 pm
It’s because of Speaker Madigan and the legislators he controls that companies like this have to resort to bringing in temporary, foreign workers and threaten them with firing if they speak to investigators and game the system to avoid the collective bargaining and prevailing wage requirements in our state. (Just in case: this post is meant as snark.)

Comment by GA Watcher Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 12:14 pm
This deserves jail time along with the fine. If owners of companies were jailed for intentionally putting workers in harms way the behavior would stop quickly. Now it falls into a cost/risk analysis “if we are caught how much is fine vs how much would the safety equipment and proper training cost”

Comment by illinifan Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 12:14 pm
This is also yet another example of a company that probably whines that they can’t get US citizens to do the job. Would you under those conditions? Total race to the bottom.

Comment by Anon221 Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 12:15 pm
We don’t need such heavy handed regulation. The free market will solve this problem. How? It just will, OK?

Comment by Willie Stark Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 12:17 pm
When the cost of something is more important than doing something legal, moral or correctly - you get unethical behavior like this in business.

And with this administration - in government too.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 12:19 pm
Actually, GAWatcher, unless you had labeled it as snark, Brucie would have offered you a job in his communications department!

Comment by D.P.Gumby Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 12:20 pm
Come on! How else are we supposed to Turn Illinois Around unless we expose workers to dangers. These regulations for hard hats and protective eyewear that are placed on businesses are what makes Illinois a bad place to do business. We need more local control on hard hats, protective eyewear and asbestos regulations.

Comment by 360 Degree TurnAround Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 12:25 pm
== $3600 may have been the max allowed under law, but was it sufficient?==

They were fined $1.8 million

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 12:27 pm
“I mean, do we really have such a severe construction worker shortage in this country that we have to import them?”

This really needs explaining … ?

Comment by Owen, son of Gus Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 12:28 pm
Unemployment insurance shouldn’t be intended to pay for blatantly illegal behavior. This employer should pay for their actions.

Comment by Not it Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 12:29 pm
== I mean, do we really have such a severe construction worker shortage in this country that we have to import them? ==

Only when you need workers that won’t rat you out to OSHA …

Comment by RNUG Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 12:41 pm
“I mean, do we really have such a severe construction worker shortage in this country that we have to import them?”

Why yes, yes we do have a shortage of workers in this country that can be so easily coerced into working in conditions that threaten their health and safety. As I understand it, a HB-2 worker has to leave the country PDQ, if they lose their job. In addition, foreign workers are much less likely to be aware of the regulations governing this type of work and how to report such blatant violations of the law.

Comment by RD55 Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 12:42 pm
Of course we have construction workers - think back to Mary Mitchell’s columns a couple years ago about a Chicago man who was protesting the lack of a single African-American construction worker on all the projects he saw. Young African-American unemployment is at third world levels. The only industry that arguably needs non-STEM foreign guest workers is agriculture (and automation is making big strides there as well).

Comment by lake county democrat Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 12:43 pm
It’s amazing, they found a way to “offshore” labor on our own soil. This story explemifies the war going on between “the gov” and the unions. “Flexibility” just means not having to follow safe work rules and pay a fair wage. The fact that Rauner is willing to hold the most vulnerable Illinois citizens hostage, shows you how much profit is involved here. After all, an investment banker doesn’t invest millions of dollars unless they are expecting a huge return.
Anyone who defends his position must have lost their moral compass.

Comment by Tha missin g Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 12:48 pm
Kehrer Brothers Roofing of Albers, Ill, lacked workers’ compensation coverage for its 12 crew members and was fined $3,600, Pechie said.

Workers Comp, not the OSHA fine( which is still not big enough IMO).

Comment by Anon221 Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 1:07 pm
It’s “aggressive” companies like this one which stand to benefit the most if we get rid of prevailing wage here.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I disagree.
The prevailing wage is required for government jobs.

Typically it’s first union, then prevailing wage.
If you project pays prevailing a wage and is not union, I would expect the union to come in and picket the project for not requiring union skill while paying non-skilled the competitive rate.

These are not union workers, otherwise this would never have happened. They would have been trained to demand Personal Protective Equipment.

It’s my opinion that I doubt the union would take them in unless they could speak some English. I would also suggest that the projects that these workers were involved were non-government projects. Finally, I would guess that prevailing wage promotes this type of activity since it creates two tiers of workers in the state.

Tier 1. Protected Union workers at prevailing wage.
Tier 2. Non-Union competitive free market wage.

If you’re in Tier 1, why would you ever want to move to Tier 2? And if you’re in Tier 2, you have to know someone to get into Tier 1.

Comment by Pete Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 1:13 pm
===The prevailing wage is required for government jobs.===

Duh.

But have you been paying attention to the news lately?

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 1:20 pm
===Duh.

But have you been paying attention to the news lately.===

I have.
For this to occur on a prevailing wage project, the procedures that the state has in place for oversight would be the bigger issue. It’s not a good case for prevailing wage.

The argument in favor of prevailing wage assumes that the entity paying the bill is both willing and able to pay the wage.
The only party willing and able entity is government agencies forced by law. Even then some government entities would rather not.

The number thrown around is a 30% premium attached to prevailing wage.

Most people would jump on a 30% discount for a construction project.

Now if you want to make the argument that to be a Licensed Roofing Contractor in ILLINOIS, D7 Roofing has to pay prevailing wages or forfeit their license, that’s a different debate.

Comment by Pete Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 2:13 pm
===The prevailing wage is required for government jobs.===

Duh.

But have you been paying attention to the news lately? - Rich Miller

You caught that one bare handed!

Comment by Anonymous Redux Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 2:32 pm
Scumbag construction firm, to be sure. They should be driven out of the construction business permanently. And Rich isn’t wrong when he says this is what we will see more of on public works if there prevailing wage act is gutted. Shoddy work. Foreign workforce. Unsafe conditions. A total race to the point. Rauner is right on many issues, but he’s dead wrong on wanting to get rid of prevailing wages.

Comment by Bored Chairman Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 3:02 pm
== I would expect the union to come in and picket the project==

Digression: Mrs. Rabid is in the habit of going over to the pickets on various job sites and talking to them about their grievances. They never know what the grievances are. The pickets are not union members and don’t know anything about the issues. They’re just paid to hold signs saying Joe Blow Construction Unfair - Shame On Joe Blow. I guess even the unions prefer to hire cheaper labor.

Comment by Excessively Rabid Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 3:08 pm
Worker exploitation at its worst made possible by lax US immigration laws. It mystifies me that American labor unions do not support stronger laws limiting immigration to the USA.

Comment by Under Further Review Tuesday, Aug 11, 15 @ 4:42 pm