Iraqi Contractors' Ethics Come to USA
Hey fellow kossacks, is this happening in any other parts of the country? Could this be the tip of the iceberg?
Its worse than you think, read on, . . .
Here's a story of a FEMA contractor not paying its employees after they worked for two weeks. Wait, it gets worse, it's at a call center that's suppose to help the victims of Katrina.
Having grown up in Illinois (where each spring the State's Attorney would send highway contractors to prison for bid rigging), this looks like a typical scam the government operation. "Fujitsu Consulting, a FEMA contractor that hired Cendera to run the call center" a subcontractor gets the contract and then skim cash and hires another company (a sub-subcontractor?). Is Fujitsu Consulting the same as the consumer electronics company? Are the contracts so rich they can be sold to another company? It would be interesting to see if insiders got to bid first on contracts.
Let's not forget that these are the same contractors the W. exempted from equal employment and fair pay requirements.
FEMA call-center workers say paychecks fall way short
Dallas: Some working for agency contractor got no money at all
12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, October 8, 2005
By KIM HORNER and HOLLY YAN / The Dallas Morning News
A scuffle broke out Friday at a Dallas FEMA subcontractor after many temporary workers did not receive their paychecks.
One man was arrested for disorderly conduct at Cendera Technologies at 8700 N. Stemmons Freeway, but no injuries were reported, Dallas police Senior Cpl. Max Geron said.
Cpl. Geron said Dallas police patrolled the office building the past few weeks because large crowds gathered on payday.
About 1,500 temporary employees of the company work seven days a week, often double shifts, answering calls for federal financial assistance from people displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
After their shift ended at 2 p.m. Friday, many workers discovered they would not get paid.
Others received checks for only a fraction of the $10 an hour plus overtime they were promised.
"I'm a single mother. I want to get paid. My rent is due today," Luvena Moore said. "We're here helping someone else get a $2,000 check and we can't get a check at all."
Bill Webb, director of bid management for Fujitsu Consulting, a FEMA contractor that hired Cendera to run the call center, said Friday that the companies were working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible, but he could not say when the checks would be available.
Mr. Webb said FEMA paid his company for the contract, and he did not know why the paychecks were inaccurate or did not arrive at all.
Cendera hired 1,700 people for the call center, but Mr. Webb said he did not know how many workers were affected.
"It's regrettable. Fujitsu does not want that for any of its employees," said Mr. Webb, adding that he understood how difficult the situation was for workers. "Those kinds of mistakes should not happen."
The lack of answers worried employees.
LaQuesha Irvin said she has worked at the company since Sept. 13 with no paycheck.
But she said she has no choice but to keep coming back to work.
"If we don't work, we won't have any funds to pay our bills," Ms. Irvin said.
Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-checks_08met.ART.North.Edition2.2307759e.h
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