(Papillion) — Some 140 staff at an Amazon distribution heart in Papillion have nonetheless not been paid for 2 weeks of labor achieved in August.
Dan Riskowski, organizer for the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, mentioned staff are owed roughly half 1,000,000 {dollars} in wages and advantages. He recounted after one week’s paychecks had been held up, a superintendent assured staff they’d be paid the next week and urged them to maintain working.
“In order that they did, and so they labored one other week,” Riskowski defined. “The superintendent got here as much as them with no clarification, no motive behind it, and mentioned ‘IMI is out of cash. Sorry, however final week and this week we can not pay you,’ and walked off.”
IMI Materials Dealing with Logistics was contracted by Honeywell Intelligrated for work on the Amazon distribution heart initially set to open this yr. Quickly after IMI left, one other subcontractor, RPM Set up LLC, continued the venture of putting in conveyors, utilizing completely different staff.
Riskowski famous Amazon and its subcontractors have been silent after the union requested staff be paid. Neither Amazon nor its subcontractors have responded to a request for remark.
Many staff traveled to Nebraska for jobs promised to last as long as eight months. Riskowski pointed to at least one couple who left their youngsters with grandparents on a promise to return to go to as soon as every week. However as a result of they haven’t been paid, they turned stranded after working into some automotive issues.
“In order that they’re engaged on getting their automotive mounted, effectively on this time of getting their automotive mounted is after they misplaced their job,” Riskowski emphasised. “They can not pay for the repairs, they can not get their automotive, they can not get house to see their youngsters. It is only a nightmare.”
In the meantime, completion of the distribution heart venture has been delayed. Metropolis officers say Amazon cited “provide chain points,” however different experiences recommend the large retailer is scaling again.
The union has filed 32 liens with the Sarpy County Register of Deeds, which ought to maintain up any future sale of the property till staff are made complete. However Riskowski added he’s hopeful Amazon will do what’s proper, because the venture’s normal contractor with deep pockets, and pay staff what they’re owed.
“Amazon actually simply merely cannot flip a blind eye to this example,” Riskowski asserted. “And to permit a brand new subcontractor principally to come back in and choose up the place IMI left off, that’s unacceptable. They want solutions and so they want their cost.”