At a press convention on Monday, organized by the nonprofit Trabajadores Unidos Staff United, a number of the staff mentioned they struggled to assist their households and had been compelled to deplete their financial savings whereas receiving partial or no paychecks from Milestone.
“It was extraordinarily tough when hire got here due — particularly when it got here to paying for fuel simply to get to work,” mentioned Jesus Martinez, 32, in Spanish. “On the identical time, it was extremely irritating not having an earnings — significantly as a result of I used to be depending on this job.”
Martinez, the daddy of a 9-year-old lady, estimates his due wages at $18,000.
His father, 54-year-old Eusebio Martinez, a foreman within the challenge, mentioned he himself misplaced sleep and noticed his diabetes worsen due to the alleged wage theft. Regardless of fielding questions from different roofers who weren’t receiving their full paychecks, Martinez mentioned he obtained no clear solutions.
“The stress made me sick…. I had such extreme anxiousness that the physician prescribed remedy for it,” mentioned the elder Martinez, who has labored as a roofer for 25 years. “Wage theft is unfair; it’s undignified. I felt annoyed. I had no cash to carry house.”
As a part of Monday’s announcement, greater than a dozen staff and supporters marched to Saarman’s places of work to ship a follow-up letter demanding they be correctly paid.
In a press release, a Milestone Roofing consultant mentioned the Tracy-based firm is investigating the accuracy of the employees’ allegations.
“Negotiations with Saarman Development, the contracting occasion, are ongoing,” the spokesperson mentioned, including that the corporate is “not ready to supply additional remark” till these issues are settled.
Common contractor Saarman Development mentioned the employees alleging underpayment had been employed by its subcontractor Milestone Roofing, not Saarman. The development agency, based greater than 40 years in the past, mentioned that it’s additionally reviewing the allegations towards Milestone.
“We take wage compliance on all our tasks significantly and count on all our subcontractors to do the identical,” the corporate mentioned. “We’re working to confirm the info and are participating with counsel for the employees to handle their claims.”
A spokesperson with the Labor Commissioner’s Workplace, which is tasked with imposing labor legal guidelines, confirmed it has acquired complaints involving Saarman Development and Milestone Roofing, however declined to remark additional.
