Carpenters Union Holds Protest, Claim Unpaid Wages, Hour Violations In CitySquare Project

WORCESTER, MA—Local carpenters who worked for a New Jersey contractor to build apartments at 145 Front St. as part of the City Square project in Worcester downtown are claiming they were victims of stolen wages and payroll fraud.

These carpenters who were employed by P&B Partitions, a contractor from West Berlin, NJ, are arguing that they are the victims of wage and hour violations in the area of $90 million for the project, according to a press release sent out by the Worcester Carpenters Union.

The Worcester Carpenters Union is holding a rally/protest from 3:30-5 p.m. at 145 Front St. in Worcester on Tuesday, July 11.

Wage complaints filed by three of the workers with the Mass. Attorney General's Office claim that P&B not only failed to pay their employees for the hours worked, but paid overtime frequently in cash at less than the required by state law, said the announcement. When raising concerns, two carpenters said they were fired.

The Worcester Carpenters Union represents more than 500 carpenters in Central Mass.

"We will not sit idly by as the standards we have worked hard to achieve are ignored and eroded by outsiders coming into our city," said Jack Donahue, New EnglandRegional Council of Carpenters, in a statement. "We believe that all carpenters, both union and non-union, should be compensated at the area standard. The progress we are making with Worcester’s downtown development should not come at the expense of taxpayers or the carpenters who build it. We can do better than this.”