Weldon Spring company accused of labor violations

CEO: Company follows law

February 10, 2009  Suburban Journals (St. Louis Metro Area)

By Eric Becker

Fifteen workers at manufacturing facilities in Puerto Rico are suing Weldon Spring-based Propper International, the largest manufacturer of uniforms for the U.S. military, alleging labor law violations.

The workers are suing for damages of $225,000 related to unpaid work.

The case alleges that the company, which operates eight plants in Puerto Rico, did not grant legally required paid sick days and vacation days and that some vacation days were paid at the federal minimum wage rather than workers' regular wages.

Propper International President and CEO Tom Kellim said Monday that Propper and other sewing companies are exempt from the Puerto Rican law requiring 12 paid sick days. He said his company cares about the safety and welfare of its employees, and its benefits reflect that.

Lead plaintiff Rafael Irizarry has been joined by 14 other workers from the eight Puerto Rican plants in the class action suit. Officials from Unite Here, a group that has been trying to organize a union at the company, is bankrolling the lawsuit.

The company has 3,000 employees at its facilities in Puerto Rico. Eric Sharfstein, communications coordinator with Unite Here, said more employees are filing to join the class action suit.

The workers sew materials for shirts, trousers and caps for military uniforms and packs.

If Propper is found to be at fault in the case, its contracts with the U.S. government could be revoked.

In addition to the complaints about sick and vacation days, the workers in the lawsuit also say Propper reduces employees' agreed-upon hourly wages for those who do not produce enough pieces in a period of time.

Albert Torres, who works at the company's Quest Best facility in the Puerto Rican city of Adjuntas, said the problem goes beyond Propper and is widespread among other military uniform manufacturers in Puerto Rico.

"You go to work sick, because when you leave sick, you don't get paid those days," Torres said.

PUERTO RICAN LABOR LAW AT ISSUE

A Puerto Rican law known as Law 180 requires companies to allow 12 paid sick days and 15 vacations days to workers who work at least 115 hours per month. Torres and plaintiffs in the case allege they aren't given those days.

Torres said he postponed a thyroid operation for a year because he couldn't afford to miss work.

Last fall, workers alleged the company intimidated workers into signing a waiver of their two weeks of vacation over the holidays to meet production demand. During the most recent Christmas holidays, Torres said, many did not work because they were trying to organize a union.

Torres, along with the lead plaintiff on the case, Mendez, went to Washington last fall to speak before the U.S. House of Representatives about their conditions. They were invited by Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Democrat from Maryland, who said last week the workers' conditions were deplorable.

"These workers are literally experiencing sweatshop conditions, working long hours in cramped quarters without air conditioning or even a fan," Cummings said.

"You have to buy utensils, you have to buy an air fan because it's so hot inside the factory," Torres said in an interview from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, echoing some of the complaints in the lawsuit.

Kellim, Propper's CEO, has said Propper is exempt from the law requiring a dozen paid sick days because of a long-standing government decree exempting sewing companies. He said being forced to pay 12 sick days per year per employee would hurt the company's ability to operate in Puerto Rico.

Kellim said the company cares about its employees' safety and welfare. He said the company has paid employees $4 million in bonuses and more than $1.6 million in vacation pay and has shelled out more than $2 million in medical insurance premiums.

"We are proud of our benefit package, which exceeds the industry and Puerto Rican apparel manufacturing standards," Kellim said in a written statement.

Victor Velez, a lawyer for the union Unite Here, said Law 180, passed in 1998, superseded the earlier decree that Kellim cites.

"The law says that as soon as companies are economically able to do it, they have to meet the standards created by Law 180," Velez said in a phone interview from Puerto Rico. "That law was set 11 years ago."

According to El Nuevo Dia, the largest daily newspaper in Puerto Rico, the company made an estimated $114 million last year, and in 2007 made $99 million, from contracts from the Department of Defense.

The most recent lawsuit is not the company's first brush with allegations of violating labor laws.

The company settled with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board in October 2008 on 12 charges that it was violating labor laws, including threatening employees who were trying to organize and spying on union leaders.

The settlement did not indicate guilt or wrongdoing by Propper.

Kellim said his company has researched what the union might be able to provide its employees. He said it would not be in the best interest of its employees to pay fees to a union to receive benefits the company already provides.

DATABASE TO TRACK VIOLATIONS

If a judge rules against the company, some or all of its contracts with the military could be in danger.

Following workers' testimony to Congress last year, 14 congressmen wrote to the Department of Defense expressing their concerns about Propper's labor record. Last June, now-President Barack Obama wrote a letter of support to Propper workers in Puerto Rico, encouraging them to continue their fight to unionize and achieve better working conditions.

The Defense Logistics Agency, an arm of the Department of Defense, sent a letter responding to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, a Missouri Democrat, in November. The letter said the agency would take into consideration labor law violations when it reviewed contractors' performance.

The Defense Authorizations Act of 2009 requires a national database, maintained by the U.S. Administrator of General Services, to document all legal violations by government contractors.

Cummings said there should be a no-tolerance policy for companies that violate labor laws.

"In those instances where they have violated the law, they should be tried and convicted -- and the government should stop doing business with them," Cummings said.

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, was named Jan. 29 to lead a subcommittee that will oversee the awarding of contracts. Maria Speizer, the senator's press secretary, said it was unclear whether the subcommittee will look into contractors' business practices.

Speizer said there is a process to prevent contractors from receiving future contracts if labor or other laws are broken.

An executive order signed by Obama during the week of Jan. 29 mandates that businesses not use money they get via federal contracts to influence workers against joining a union.

Steve Wishart, coordinator for the manufacturing division of Unite Here, said the move was positive for workers in Puerto Rico. Unite Here has been trying to organize a union at Propper's facilities since May, but has complained of intimidation techniques by Propper management.

The Defense Logistics Agency said it has been monitoring proceedings against Propper dating back to the company's settlement with the National Labor Relations Board last fall.

Diana Stewart, a spokesperson for the Defense Logistics Agency, said labor practices are taken into consideration when it doles out government contracts. She said if Propper or another contractor were found to have violated labor laws, it is possible the government would terminate the contract.