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Adams talks gun violence with President Biden
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | JULY 16-JULY 22, 2021 15
BY BILL PARRY
Airport workers at JFK
have been locked in a yearslong
battle with an international
ground services corporation
over its alleged unfair labor
practices.
New York State Attorney
General Letitia James announced
an agreement with
airline service company Eulen
America for failing to reimburse
employees more than half
a million dollars for the laundering
costs of their required
uniforms that was unlawfully
deducted from their paychecks.
Under the agreement, Eulen
— which provides passenger
services at JFK Airport and
a subcontractor to American
Airlines — will deliver $590,000
to approximately 1,500 workers
who were forced to pay for laundry
costs out of their minimum
wage paychecks. New York Labor
Law requires employers
to reimburse minimum wage
workers who are required to
wear uniforms for laundering
costs at a fixed rate per week.
Eulen’s failure to follow the
law led to consistent minimum
wage violations from 2014-2020.
The attorney general
launched her probe into Eulen
in November of 2019. The
investigation revealed that between
Feb. 21, 2014, and May 11,
2020, Eulen failed to reimburse
its workers for their uniform
maintenance/laundry, resulting
in illegal deductions of
these costs from employees’
paychecks.
The law requires companies
to pay for laundry costs as part
of the minimum wage and any
legally required overtime rate
for all hours worked over 40
in a workweek. In addition to
the unpaid laundry reimbursements,
Eulen was found to have
failed to pay the minimum
wage established by the Port
Authority during the week of
Sept. 14, 2015.
“The dedicated and hardworking
workers at airports
across the tri-state area deserve
to be compensated fairly
for their labor and reimbursed
for what the law clearly lays
out,” James said. “For nearly
six years, Eulen failed its workers
by illegally and consistently
refusing to reimburse them or
uniform laundering, forcing
workers to pay laundry costs
out of their minimum wage
paychecks. But today, we’re
delivering nearly $600,000 in
stolen wages back into the
pockets of these workers, especially
crucial as New Yorkers
continue to suffer the economic
effects of COVID-19.”
Based on these failures,
James concluded that Eulen engaged
in persistent and repeated
violations of New York state
labor laws. Eulen has agreed to
adhere to all federal, state and
local labor laws going forward
and may face legal action if
they fail to comply.
The $590,000 in monetary
restoration will be distributed
to workers who should have
been reimbursed for laundering
their uniforms. Along with
monetary restitution, Eulen
has also agreed to additional
terms to ensure pay equity
moving forward, including the
following:
• Compliance with all labor
laws
• The posting of notices with information
on employee rights,
wage and hour laws, and the
right to not fear retaliation for
speaking out about labor issues
• Compliance with all recordkeeping
requirements laid out
in New York Labor Laws
• The maintenance of all employment
documents, documents
related to employment
practices, and records on employee
complaints for six years
• The implementation of an independent
third-party administrator
to identify and contact eligible
workers and prepare and
distribute payments, as well as
to provide the Office of the Attorney
General with a written plan
for this disbursement process.
QNS reached out to Eulen
America and did not receive an
answer before press time.
BY STEPHEN WITT
Eric Adams, the Democratic
nominee for New York
City mayor, participated in
a round-table discussion on
reducing gun violence with
President Joseph Biden, U.S.
Attorney General Merrick
Garland, local leaders and
community experts at the
White House on Monday,
July 12.
Accompanying Adams on
his trip to Washington was
Deputy Borough President
Ingrid Martin-Lewis and his
communication chief, Stefan
Ringel. Also at the meeting
was House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi (D-CA).
“I applaud President Joe
Biden for calling this critical
meeting to address rising
crime, and for his commitment
to take on the gun violence
epidemic in our city and
in our country. It is so important
to the safety of New Yorkers
that all levels of government
work together and take
action to fight and prevent
crime,” Adams said.
“To achieve our shared
goal of reducing gun violence,
it is critical that the partnership
between New York City
and the federal government
include both long-term crime
prevention strategies and immediate
interventions that
stop the shootings now and get
the guns off of our streets,” he
added.
Adams, a former New York
City police captain, said he
was confident the Biden administration
would focus on
finding and prosecuting the
dirty gun dealers, straw purchasers
and traffickers who
flood our streets with handguns.
“At the same time, we must
work together to deal with the
feeders of crime and violence,
including funding for young
people aging out of foster
care, youth employment, job
training, and learning disability
screenings and help,”
he said.
According to the New York
Post, Adams told a TV crew
outside the White House that
he rejected the president’s call
to increase police forces in order
to combat illegal guns.
“The first thing we need
to do is to do an assessment of
how we are using our police
officers now. Far too many police
officers are doing clerical
duty. Far too many police officers
are patrolling in groups,”
Adams told reporters.
Calling the meeting productive,
Adams concluded
that he looked forward “to
working with the president as
a true partner to create a safer
New York City and a safer
country.”
Brooklyn Borough President and NYC Democratic Mayoral Nominee
Eric Adams, third from left, with President Joe Biden at the White
House. Photo credit: Ingrid Martin-Lewis
Airport workers at JFK will be compensated for minimum wage
violations in an agreement announced by Attorney General Letitia
James. QNS fi le photo
AG recovers $590K in minimum wage
violations for airline workers at JFK
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