PRESS RELEASE
–Embargoed for Release at 3 PM, EDT, Tuesday, June 12, 2018–
Contact: Rosa Lozano (443) 561-4493 rlozano@iupat.org
Workers that Built Luxury Hotel in Nashville Demand Stolen Wages
Over 150 workers that helped build the JW Marriott were fired after demanding payment for work rendered
Nashville, TN (Jun. 13th) – On Wednesday, June 13th workers take another step in demanding justice after working long hours in the development of the new JW Marriott in downtown Nashville, only to have their wages stolen.
“This class action brings to light a business model that is rampant in the construction industry throughout Tennessee and has a profound effect on the local economy as well as, an enormous cost to taxpayers”, said Rosa Lozano, an organizer with Alianza Laboral. “We are calling out these appalling business practices would hope that Skanska, Turnberry and M&R do right by these workers and the citizens of Nashville.”
In Tennessee, employers’ misclassification of full-time employees as independent contractors to avoid paying taxes and benefits could cost the state as hundreds of millions in payroll taxes and unemployment insurance taxes annually. Money that could be going to schools and other state funded infrastructure.”
According to a report published by a worker advocacy group, Community Labor United, “…across the country, employers are subcontracting and outsourcing their work and distancing themselves from their responsibilities to their employees. Through practices such as multi-layered contracting, the use of staffing or temporary employment firms, franchising, misclassifying employees as independent contractors, and other means, employers are turning traditionally secure jobs into low-wage poverty jobs. While sometimes these practices reflect more efficient ways of producing goods and services, too often they are the result of explicit employer strategies to evade labor laws and erode worker protections.”
[Read the Full Report: http://bit.ly/GamingtheSystem
Who: Alianza Laboral Worker Center Nashville
What: Alianza Laboral Delivers Demand for Stolen Wages to Skanska USA / M&R Drywall
When: Wednesday, June 13th, 2018
Where: 201 8th Ave South, Nashville, TN 37203 (Corner of Clarke Pl and 8th Ave S.) – Meeting point and interviews available before in the parking lot of 818 Palmer Pl, Nashville, TN 37203
Alianza Laboral is a worker resource center for working people in Nashville, TN.
The purpose of our center is to educate and empower workers about their rights and to change the working conditions in the construction industry and beyond in Nashville. Together we can demand more!