|
 |
Wednesday, September 20, 2006 Problem of Illegal Workers Analyzed
By RANDY KREHBIEL
World Staff Writer
Enforcement of workers compensation laws could be a remedy, the state Labor Commissioner is told.
Aggressive enforcement of workers compensation laws could be an effective control on illegal immigrants in the construction trades, a roofing contractor and a union representative told Labor Commissioner Brenda Reneau on Tuesday.
"I don't know about statistics," Rogers County contractor Larry Wisdom said. "All I know is the reality I see in the workplace."
Wisdom's remarks came during a Labor Department hearing on illegal immigration at the State Office Building in downtown Tulsa.
Wisdom and Adrian Privett of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners said the use of illegal immigrants and other "misclassified" workers to avoid workers compensation premiums, benefits and withholding taxes puts contractors who try to follow the rules at a crippling disadvantage.
"The contractors know they are abusing the law," Privett said. "When they go out and bid against a legitimate contractor, they have a 35 percent advantage." Read more...
Posted at 9/20/2006 12:23:00 PM
 
|
|
|
 |
