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Fighting for Working People and Fair Competition

Bill Thompson is long-time supporter, friend, and staunch advocate for labor unions and working people in New York City.

As City Comptroller, Bill has made the enforcement of prevailing wage and living wage laws one of his Administration's top priorities. These laws are critical to workers who want to make a decent living and work in safe conditions, and important to honest contractors who want to compete fairly for jobs.

Under Bill's watch, the Comptroller's Bureau of Labor Law has initiated more cases and penalized more contractors than ever before. It has consistently deployed investigators into the field to inspect job sites, review records and interview workers. Prior to Bill's tenure, the Comptroller's Office rarely did field inspections.

Since taking office in 2002, Bill has collected more than $12 million for workers who were illegally underpaid by New York City contractors.

Examples of settlements include:

• Admiral Construction Services Corp. and Admiral Environmental LLC paid $1.5 million in restitution-the largest monetary recovery by Bill's Bureau of Labor Law-for underpaying 32 workers contracted to install new windows in New York City public schools.

• Netexit, Inc. agreed to pay nearly $1.5 million to 16 employees who were underpaid for work at Human Resources Administration sites throughout the City.

• JC Mandel Security paid $750,000 for 720 security guards who were shortchanged for work at City buildings. Measured in workers impacted, this is the largest prevailing wage case settlement ever reached by the Comptroller's Office.

During Bill's tenure as Comptroller, 26 unlawful contractors have been debarred including:

• Paradise Construction pleaded guilty to a class E felony for submitting false payroll documents. The company paid nearly $240,000 dollars in back wages and interest to several workers and was debarred.

• Integrity Construction & Consulting Services was debarred from doing business with the City and State after it did not pay seven workers almost $280,000 in prevailing wages and benefits for work on a housing development project.

• Cappry Contractors failed to pay prevailing wages to laborers and painters on two school construction projects in Queens. The company also did not submit payroll records and other documentation demanded by Labor Law investigators.

Access to Opportunity

Bill believes that New York's economic growth will be hindered if we don't aggressively reach out to and train people from all backgrounds for jobs in the construction industry.

Among his many efforts, Bill has:

• Released a report calling for more investment in our City' vocational schools to ensure that our young people have the skills they need to succeed.

• Forged partnerships with clergy, community leaders, and advocacy groups across our City to ensure that immigrants and other working people know about their rights to fair wages and benefits.

• Issued flyers to educate workers hired under Public Works' Contracts on their rights under the State's prevailing wage laws. The flyers, published in many different languages, give the minimum hourly wage that workers should receive in a variety of fields.

• Offered all City agencies wage and benefit schedules that the Comptroller's Office had translated into seven different languages to ensure that all communities are aware of their rights.