Wage Protection Act: Shattered Promises at Reliant Glass

“When you’ve done your job, you should get paid in full,” says John Jorgensen, Business Manager for the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Council 7.  “Unfortunately, our members at Reliant Glass found out the hard way that Wisconsin laws favor bankers over workers.” 
 
In January 2009, Reliant Glass & Door Systems in Sheboygan, WI was placed into receivership.  At that time Reliant owed four months of unpaid wages and benefits to 39 employees totaling $132,000.

“When the company fell on hard times, they pocketed the payroll deductions that should have been going towards health care and retirement funds,” say Jorgensen.  “Some workers were owed quite a bit more than it is currently possible to collect under Wisconsin law.”

18 of the 39 workers involved were owed amounts which exceeded the $3,000 cap on unpaid wages and benefits that a worker can attempt to collect ahead of the banks. 

Ordinarily, all 18 of those workers would have been out of luck, and many of them would have suffered a loss of several thousand dollars.  But IUPAT DC 7 fought hard and was able to recover an additional $47,026.57 for union members by collecting on construction liens through receivership.   Then the $3,000 cap was applied to the remaining amounts that workers had earned.

“It was frustrating to watch resources that rightfully belonged to workers being awarded to pay off bank loans,” said Jorgensen.  “Big banks are equipped to handle financial losses; working families are not.”

After all of the legal options were exhausted, nine workers were still unable to collect all of their earned wages and benefits.  At least five of those workers were owed over a thousand dollars.

“A thousand dollars is a big deal when you are facing unemployment.  Those nine working people played by all the rules and were not properly compensated,” says Jorgensen.  “We must pass SB 2 to keep this from happening again.”

Senate Bill 2 would increase the amount of unpaid wages and benefits that a worker can collect before the banks take their share to $10,950.  Call on your State Assembly Rep. to pass SB 2 before the legislative session adjourns on April 22:

1-800-362-9472

Not sure who your Assembly Rep. is?  The hotline above will help you identify your Rep. and provide you with a direct toll-free number to his or her office.

“Reliant Glass is just one example,” says Jorgensen.  “Tell your Assembly Representative to put working family need above big bank greed by passing SB 2 without delay.” 

(Top Photo:  John Jorgensen, IUPAT DC 7 Business Manager.  Picture provided courtesy of IUPAT DC 7.  Bottom Photo: Scott Sharp, President of the Racine AFL-CIO Council sends a letter in support of SB 2 to Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan.  Central Labor Councils and affiliated unions around the state are taking action in support of the Wage Protection Act.  Photo Credit: Justin Geiger.)