Vol. 72/No. 29      July 21, 2008

Workers who were to be paid on a daily basis did not receive the promised wage amount or per diem for food. Others were packed into motel rooms and in some cases left in Cedar Rapids with no transportation.

Mary Butler and her sister, Sheri Sawyer, were hired by the Command Center temporary agency June 16. In an interview, Butler said that they were sent out to recruit workers, including passing out flyers. “The flyer said the workers would be paid $8 to $12 per hour and could make up to $1,000 per week with overtime,” she said. The pay was to be received daily through a card similar to a debit card.

But when workers went to get their pay, the cards had only a small amount of money on it or often a zero balance. Some complained to Command Center management, and were told, “Call the 800 number on the back of the card.” When workers eventually got their pay it was only $7 an hour.

Butler said that workers continued to report to work because “they wanted their pay and they needed the jobs.” Butler, who was told she would receive $10 per hour, also initially got paid $7 per hour.

Conditions on the job were very dangerous, Butler said. Workers were forced to go into narrow crawl spaces and tunnels with only a dust mask for protection. Several became ill and when they protested the bosses said, “Either go back in there or you are fired.”

Command Center hired a Spanish-language interpreter to sign up workers. When Butler’s sister Sheri, who speaks Spanish, heard the interpreter telling workers they would get $10 per hour, she intervened and said in Spanish, “Don’t lie to these people. Tell them straight up what they will be paid.” At that point one of the bosses promised $8 per hour. Most of the workers actually got $7.

Butler said she received one phone call from a worker reporting that 17 Command Center employees were housed in one motel room. They were sleeping in shifts. Because the company did not pay its motel bills, workers were forced on short notice to move to new locations.

On June 30, Butler and Sawyer were fired and told the office was “cleaning up.” By the next day, the office was vacated and there was a sign on the door giving a phone number for questions.

Butler like many others is fighting to get her pay and has filed complaints with the state. “The workers took pride in doing a good deed in helping with the flood cleanup,” she said.  
 
 
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