Construction workers protest labor violations at San Jose condo building site

Construction workers and union members held a demonstration at a job site in downtown Jose Thursday morning, accusing a company of using a subcontractor who withheld pay from workers.
 
Despite last year’s fines by the U.S. Department of Labor, the bad blood between union members and the people building this large skyscraper continue.

Full Power Properties is the primary contractor. But it hired Joe Torres of Nobilis Construction a subcontractor, and the Department of Labor alleges the subcontractor did not pay people for work that was done, and forced it to pay  $250,000 to 22 employees to resolve the violations.

Investigators found a number of the employees forced to work without pay on large Bay Area construction projects, including the Silvery Towers development. When not working, they lived in captivity in squalid conditions in a warehouse controlled by Torres.
On Aug. 29, 2017, federal agents freed the workers as they executed search and arrest warrants at multiple locations.

In a statement, Full Power Properties, owner of 188 W. James Street in San Jose, said they see see this protest “as nothing but a misplaced publicity stunt to blame the builder for alleged wrongdoings by a subcontractor over a year ago. This labor issue was addressed and resolved with the Department of Labor, and the union is merely agitating people in an attempt to pressure Full Power to exclusively hire union labor and build its membership on this and future construction projects in San Jose.”