State eyes wage gap in suburban NY illegal-worker case

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Associated Press

SPRING VALLEY, N.Y. -- A suburban village will have to pay what could amount to thousands of dollars in additional wages and taxes for apparently illegal workers who labored on a public project, a state Labor Department spokesman said.

The men, who were recruited by the village mayor, were paid $10 an hour to prepare a rundown building for demolition. The state's prevailing rate for the work is about $40 per hour, including taxes, Labor Department spokeswoman Chris Perham said Friday.

Perham said the Spring Valley village government would have to pay the difference. But she said the Labor Department would not pursue civil or criminal charges against Mayor George Darden because the incident was a first offense.

It is against the law to knowingly hire illegal immigrants, according to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman.


Read more: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--immigranthires0721jul21,0,1967447.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Ten bucks an hour?

No need to hire illegal immigrants-they could have recruited them from Arkansas! Prevailing wage in my town is like $8 an hour, and many work well below that.