by admin on March 16, 2016
In 2015, we started our “News About Callahan” newsletter about the illegal and unethical practices in the construction industry’s underground economy. Callahan, Inc. is not the only general contractor that uses subcontractors that engage in these practices, but we have focused on Callahan because the firm has become one of the larger supporters of the underground economy.
We have cited instance after instance of wage theft on Callahan projects, and not one allegation has been refuted. Several of Callahan’s regular subs are under investigation by state and federal regulatory agencies. This business model, unfortunately, gives Callahan a competitive advantage over contractors that play by the rules, by artificially lowering its bids.
We will continue to shine a light on the regional underground economy in construction in 2016. We believe that a professional and responsible industry benefits all participants — from the carpenters in the field to the owners who select the general contractors and the architects who design the buildings.We wish all of you a Happy New Year and look forward to a more level playing field in 2016.
by admin on December 18, 2015
In a scathing press release issued on December 17, OSHA fined Force Corporation, a Woburn, MA carpentry subcontractor with ties to Callahan, Inc., $91,000 in what OSHA is calling an “imminent danger situation” on a roofing project in Andover, MA.
“These employees were one slip, trip or misstep away from a deadly or disabling fall,” said Anthony Covello, OSHA’s area director. “Even after the employees donned fall protection equipment, it was defective and inadequate at preventing falls. Force Corp.’s disregard of this safety requirement placed its employees at risk needlessly. This is unacceptable behavior that must change before a worker’s life or career is destroyed.”
Force Corporation was the wood-frame subcontractor on Callahan’s Pinehills Independent Living project in Plymouth, and is rumored to be a candidate for the framing on Callahan’s Assembly Square project in Somerville.
In 2013, the company, which was then known as Twin Pines, was fined $290,700, also for willful and repeat fall hazards. “The sizable penalties proposed here reflect the gravity and recurring nature of these hazards, plus this employer’s knowledge of and refusal to correct them,” said OSHA’s area director at the time.
Force Corp was also in the news (Boston Globe,11/26/15) recently for accusations of wage theft on the CATS academy project in Braintree, where workers have come forward to report that they did not receive proper overtime pay and did not have the proper taxes taken out of their paychecks.
This habitual disregard for worker safety is endemic to Callahan’s subcontractors.
