A story in today’s Boston Globe discusses yet another example of the underground economy in Construction, and its effects on workers, companies, and taxpayers. Carpenters working for Force Corporation (Woburn, MA) on the CATS Academy site in Braintree are receiving no overtime pay and being paid without any legally mandated state and federal tax deductions.
“Several carpenters who worked at the CATS site, all Spanish-speaking immigrants, recently told the Globe that they were not being paid overtime for the work they did beyond 40 hours a week; they said their regular rates were $14 to $17 an hour. Union officials say these workers, who have since found other jobs, also didn’t have taxes taken out of their paychecks.” – Jon Chesto, Boston Globe, Nov. 26 2015
While Callahan, Inc. is not the general contractor for this project, Callahan has used Force in the past, including the Northbridge @ Pinehills Independent Living Community project. Additionally, violations such as those described in the article are endemic to many of Callahan’s subcontractors, and are indicative of Callahan’s business model.
