State labor agency recovers $4.9 million in unpaid wages
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The Department of Labor says it recovered more than $4.9 million in unpaid wages owed to Connecticut workers in the last fiscal year.
The state agency says that figure includes nearly $2.3 million recovered by wage enforcement staff responding to complaints of owed wages not being paid. Nearly $2 million was returned to employees not paid the required minimum wage or overtime.
More than $687,000 was recovered for workers paid incorrect amounts while working at construction sites involving public contracts.
Department of Labor Commissioner Kurt Westby says his agency places a "high priority" on protecting workers and law-abiding employers.
The agency's Division of Wage and Workplace Standards investigated more than 2,300 claims for unpaid wages, 250 cases involving the minimum wage or overtime, and 240 cases involving workplace standards violations.
Construction embraces apprentices, too
Gregory Seay
Connecticut, like many other states, is experiencing a shortage of carpenters, brick masons, steelworkers, electricians, heating, air conditioning and ventilation installers, and other residential-construction skilled tradespeople.
And, as it has partnered with its manufacturers to create and enhance skills development through apprenticeship training, Connecticut's labor overseer offers an ongoing apprenticeship development program to the building trades.
Connecticut's building-trades employment routinely oscillates, according to the season and often in step with the state and national economies, observers say.
The 2008 near-global financial collapse, and the subsequent U.S. Great Recession greatly eroded demand for new homes and buildings here and in other states.
The result was "you lost a generation of workers entering into the construction field," says Ellington home builder Eric Santini, who is president of the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Central Connecticut.
Filling that construction-skills gap will take time, but the state Department of Labor says such training is underway in both the public and private sectors.
According to Todd Berch, who is the state Department of Labor's apprenticeship manager, there are between 5,000 and 5,500 men and women enrolled in two- to four-year construction apprentice training programs. Those who successfully complete the training, Berch said, are then eligible to apply to take the state's journeymen licensing examination.
Many of the state's manufacturing and construction apprenticeship-enrollees got their exposure in the state's vocational-technical high schools and will continue to be one of the biggest sources of construction apprentices. On top of those, all of the state's leading building-trades unions offer apprenticeship training programs, authorities say.
Private building contractors, too, are eligible to offer apprentice training in their shops, as long as they first register with DOL, Berch said.
"If any company wants to have an apprenticeship program, they need to start one," he said.
Plainville commercial interior contractor Melissa Sheffy says she has four apprentices and two pre-apprentices — about the same count as in recent years — on her staff at Network Interiors LLC.
"I pay for my apprentices for their four-year training because I believe in education," said Sheffy, Network Interiors' owner-president. "It just makes sense.''
Sheffy says she regularly plies friends and family, seeking referrals of qualified young people who want a construction career. Southington High School, too, refers candidates to Sheffy whom she helps place with other construction contractors.
"I find the best way I get people is through referrals,'' Sheffy said.
NIMBYism on display in Newington
Greg Bordonaro
"No."
It's a common refrain you hear from town or city residents whenever a new development is proposed.
Whether it's fear of change or concerns about environmental, social, tax or other impacts, Connecticut is well-known for its "Not in my backyard," or NIMBY attitude, which is a major turn off to developers and businesses.
The mindset adds to the state's anti-business climate and must change if Connecticut is going to grow its way out of its economic malaise.
While not all developments are right for a particular community, Connecticut must be more willing to work with developers or businesses looking to invest capital.
The most recent high-profile NIMBY example is in Newington, where Massachusett-based developer Dakota Partners Inc. is eyeing a multimillion dollar affordable housing development on a long-vacant lot on Cedar Street.
The plan, which includes erecting three buildings that will house 108 units with rents ranging from $410 to $1,046 for one bedroom and $486 to $1,240 for two-bedroom units, has been aired at several well-attended town meetings where residents, according to a town official and media reports, have overwhelmingly opposed the project.
Concerns about traffic, tax impact, and the addition of affordable rental units in town were all voiced, painting the development in a negative light before developers could even think about putting a shovel near the ground.
First, let me say there are legitimate concerns the developer must address with this project, but the initial overwhelming negative reaction was overblown.
The site Dakota Partners wants to redevelop has been vacant for nearly two decades and is contaminated with petroleum left by former occupant Crest Motors. The opportunity to clean up the site and put a private property on the tax rolls should be something town residents are willing to work with.
Craig Minor, Newington's town planner, said the town has been trying to redevelop the property at 550 Cedar St. for years and has considered everything from an indoor training soccer facility to an elderly housing project, but nothing has panned out.
Personally, he thinks retail or office space would be a better use of the land, but he won't dismiss Dakota Partners' affordable housing project.
Several concerns, however, must be addressed, he said. The site must be remediated before construction could begin and pedestrian access between the development site and the CTfastrak Cedar Street station, which sits nearby, should be improved so residents can safely walk to the bus line.
Minor said the apartment project will add to traffic on Cedar Street, which admittedly is already log-jammed during rush hour, but not enough to call the project completely out of bounds. (Dakota Partners did submit a traffic study with its proposal that said the project would add 60 or so cars during peak traffic hours.)
"That is some additional traffic," Minor said. "Will it make it slightly worse, yes."
Overall, however, Minor takes a reasonable approach to the project, not dismissing it out of hand but wanting to ensure basic public safety concerns are addressed before he throws his weight behind it.
It's the type of common-sense approach more residents ought to take when dealing with new developments. Few Connecticut towns or cities are in a position to thumb their noses at economic development opportunities.
There's an added reason Newington may have to approve the project. Only about 8 percent of its housing stock is considered affordable, less than the 10 percent mandated by state law. That will make it harder for the town's planning and zoning commission to reject the project, which aims to provide shelter for lower-income residents including EMTs and young teachers.
Dakota Partners, which has successfully developed an office-to-apartment project in Hartford and has several other Connecticut projects in the pipeline, deserves a chance to address local concerns. If it does, its project ought to get a fair shake.
Governor’s race: Here’s their take on tolls
PAUL HUGHES
Stefanowski opposes reinstituting tolls of any kind on Connecticut highways, and Lamont is proposing to target tolls at out-of-state trucks.
The two candidates oppose Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s $10 million highway tolling study for different reasons – Lamont because he contends another study is unneeded, and Stefanowski because he flat out opposes tolls.
Stefanowski running mate Joseph C. Markley is independently suing Malloy in Superior Court to block the electronic tolling studying in his capacity as a state senator. A hearing on his request for a preliminary injunction and the state’s motion to dismiss is scheduled for two weeks before Election Day.
Tolls are being reconsidered because the Special Transportation Fund is under financial strain. The state removed tolls from Interstate 95, the Merritt Parkway, the Wilbur Cross Parkway and a couple of bridges in the 1980s. Toll supporters and opponents disagree over whether there are no other viable means for funding transportation projects going forward. This disagreement is a big part of why legislation authorizing state Department of Transportation to prepare an electronic tolling plan stalled this year
Yet, the outlook for the Special Transportation Fund has improved since the Malloy administration projected last December that the dedicated fund’s cumulative reserve would be wiped out after the 2020 fiscal year.
The state Office of Policy and Management now sees the transportation fund on track to remain solvent through the mid-2020s. At this time, OPM is estimating a fund balance of $284 million at end the current 2019 fiscal year next June 30.
OPM spokesman Chris McClure cautioned these projections are subject to change with shifts in fuel prices and consumption. He said gasoline prices are not static, and consumer demand is difficult to predict beyond a business cycle. An updated five-year projection is being prepared for an upcoming sale of state bonds.
More revenue is flowing into the transportation fund now because the price of gas has increased about 30 percent since January, and the sales tax is up statewide, McClure said.
DOT Commissioner James Redeker estimated tolls could raise as much as $1 billion in July when the State Bond Commission authorized up to $10 million to pay for Malloy’s tolling study. Ultimately, toll revenue would depend on the fee structure, which highways and highway projects are tolled, the associated administrative and capital costs, and what federal law allows.
Public sentiment is running against bringing back tolls. Voters opposed putting tolls on Connecticut highways 50 percent to 43 percent in a recent Quinnipiac University Poll. The survey did not gauge support for imposing tolls on out-of-state trucks as Lamont has proposed.
Lamont modeled his truck-only tolling proposal on Rhode Island. In June, the neighboring Ocean State started tolling commercial tractor-trailers as part of an infrastructure plan to repair roads and bridges.
“I’m following Rhode Island’s lead on that. What appealed to me is it is something I think I can get passed. I know we couldn’t even get tolling up for a vote last session,” Lamont said.
A key difference is Lamont is proposing only to toll out-of-state trucks because of the wear and damage he contends this interstate traffic causes to state roadways. He would consider reducing the gasoline tax if and when there is an opportunity once tolls start funding highway upkeep and repair.
“First of all, trucks are already paying to use our roads,” Stefanowski said.”I’m not in favor of tolls in any form or fashion.”
Interstate compacts allow Connecticut to collect fuel taxes and registration fees from out-of-state trucks based mostly on miles driven in the state. The receipts support the transportation fund.
The trucking industry is fighting Rhode Island over its new tolls. The Virginia-based American Trucking Associations is leading a federal lawsuit that alleges Rhode Island’s truck-only tolls violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The legal challenge alleges the tolls unfairly and disproportionately target out-of-state operators and truckers. The state government on Aug. 24 moved to dismiss the suit.
Stefanowski has signed a national pledge to veto any tax increases, and he considers tolls another form of taxation. His tax-cutting plans do not specifically target fuel taxes for reduction.
Stefanowski said he will cut wasteful spending and reinvest the savings in transportation and other infrastructure. He is also proposing to reprioritize transportation spending, as well as cut red tape to speed critical road, bridge and other infrastructure projects and cut costs.
Stefanowski said his proposed tax cuts and more business-friendly administration will help spur economic development that will provide additional revenue to fund transportation and infrastructure.
He is additionally proposing to investigate using public-partnerships to rebuild the state’s transportation system and other infrastructure.
Oz Griebel, a petitioning candidate for governor, is proposing to test out tolls using commuter lanes on Interstates 84 and 91 in Greater Hartford that are now limited to cars with two or more passengers.