Dept. of Labor Recovers $1.8 Million from USPS Contractor

US Labor Department moves to debar Long Island, NY, mail hauling contractor and recover $1.8 million in back wages for 500 employees

BAY SHORE, N.Y. — The U.S. Department of Labor will recover more than $1.8 million in back wages for more than 500 employees of MT Transportation & Logistics Services Inc., a trucking company based in Bay Shore, under contract with the United States Postal Service (USPS) to haul mail. The company and its principal officers also will be debarred from receiving future government contracts for a three-year period.

USPS mail haul contracts are subject to the prevailing wage and fringe benefits provisions of the federal McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act. The McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act requires contractors and subcontractors performing on federal service contracts in excess of $2,500 to pay service employees no less than the wage rates and fringe benefits found prevailing in the locality for the classification of work that they perform. The department’s Wage and Hour Division cited the company and the company’s officers for failing to pay their service employees the legally required hourly rates and fringe benefits.

“The laws governing prevailing wages and benefits on federal contracts grant clear protections to workers, and the Labor Department will continue to ensure that companies awarded federal contracts are following the rules,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis.

In an administrative complaint filed with the Labor Department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges (ALJ), the Wage and Hour Division named as respondents the company, Anthony Alvarez as president, Andrew Meyers as vice president-sales, Della Herzog as vice president-finance and Terri Chester as controller/general manager. The ALJ approved a consent findings and order to resolve the complainant when the respondents agreed to pay a total of $1,830,800 in back wages and interest for the period from Dec. 1, 2005, to Dec. 31, 2008. The judgment also orders the company and the principal officers to be debarred from future government contracts for three years and to establish a compliance program to ensure future compliance with wage and hour laws.

13 Responses to "Dept. of Labor Recovers $1.8 Million from USPS Contractor"

  1. I am a small Postal Contractor in northern MN. I do pay our drivers all their entitled to, but the Postal Service does not recognize; Medicare, Sick Pay, or the MN Enhanced Workforce Tax, along with time for the Pre/Post Trip inspections. I pay this from different funding, but I can see where it looks as if other contractors are pocketing the money…… may not be completely true.

  2. I also work for a mail contracter..no bennies after 80 hrs and no overtime…how do they get away with this.

  3. Don’t work for them , not the contractors fault it’s the Usps fault for awarding a under bided contract

  4. Continuation to last comment: I believe these time altered travel schedules that are overlapping each other heavily are a way for the company to save money by eliminating 15 minutes to a half an hour from every run ,they fraudulently pocket money that they were paid to have an employee do the scheduled trip at a certain amount of time. so if you reduce that time and make the driver Rush through the route they pocket that money which seems fraudulent and life threatening me and if you don’t do the route and ass in that time that they altered they threaten your livelihood

  5. I work for a USPS contractor in Bethpage New York Long Island that is based out of Pennsylvania .dispatchers and management are altering /cutting off 15 minute to half hr off of the drivers safe travel time schedule that was CREATED by USPS. yard /dock/ drop and hook time is also a rushed atmosphere due to this time alteration…creating a future if not immediate safety hazard causing the driver to race to the delivery point due to this reduced time creating a dangerous Beat the Clock atmosphere, this heavily manipulated scheduling time is occurring in the Dangerous HEAVY TRAFFICKED MORNING /EVENING Rush hours, I have also observed this manipulation of travel time scheduling in the overnight runs also

  6. Failure by contract holder to step in regarding contract holders employees doing usps employees job expediter’s job examples are opening usps overhead doors,cutting of seals,pulling up dock plates,unloading and loading of mail without assistance from usps personal,putting copy of paper work in trailer, removing dock plate from trailer,sealing of trailer door by driver and closing overhead door on a regular basis which are all usps expediter’s jobs despite many complaints by driver to contract holder as well as usps management and personnel.

  7. Everyone needs to unionize, join some union or association to stand up to unsafe work conditions, no benefits, and being taken advantage at work.

  8. i also work for a mail contractor and for the last 15 years he has told me that i would not get the fringe benefits and he don’t pay unployment ins i been hurt on the job i fell off the truck once and when to the er room and even still have pic’s of my leg to show but no one cares and now the post office is makeing us do mail handlers work and by the contract it is load and unload but we have to break the mail down now were we can load or truck and by the contract the rate of pay is 23.16 a hour but the contractor only pay’s 20 a hour you can’t talk to them they don’t want to hear you i wish some would do something

  9. I’m in the same situation now been driving for a guy 8 years he haven’t never paid me no benefits. Don’t seem like that no one at the post office cares about us oh this happening in Grenada Mississippi contractor **** *****

    PEN: please do not post names.

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