Construction worker wins back wages in NYC
NEW YORK CITY -- On Sunday March 30... Balvinder Singh was presented a check of $3,500 by Executive Director Javaid Tariq of New York Construction Workers United (NYCWU). Over the past two years NYCWU along with Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) has worked tirelessly to demand justice for Balvinder Singh for wages owed to him. On this day, Singh finally got justice.
In an industry notorious for unpaid wages and unsafe conditions, construction workers have a reason to celebrate. Singh said thanks to New York Construction Workers United and to his attorney from the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Alex Saingchin, the contractor finally agreed to pay the wages.
"They didn't listen to me when I went to them, but after the organization was involved, I won my right," says Singh. "Construction is very hard job. And because the season is short, whatever we earn on any job, we need for our survival. We have right to be paid for our work."
Singh won back his wages in an out of court settlement, without needing to file a law suit. MORE
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An issue that deserves more attention
This article highlights one of the scourges of our industry that fails to get much attention in the media: workers who are not paid their full wages by contractors. Indeed, it's almost embarassing that this piece was picked up by the Indian press and seems to have been all but ignored by the press in New York City. Perhaps, the small payout of $3,500 seemed insufficient to attract local press coverage. But the real issue here is not the award, but the alleged problem of non-payment that apparently led to it.
Clearly, contractors may miss payroll or fall short for reasons beyond their control. If they're not paid in time on a job, that may make it hard for them to pay their employees if they are cash-short. But there are plenty of anecdotes circulating in the field that suggest missed payrolls can't always be so readily justified.
We would hope in the future that our colleagues at the larger news organizations with the means to do so would see such cases as an opportunity to shine a light on a problem that anecdotal evidence suggests all too often endangers livelihoods and maybe even ruins lives.