Complaints Of Wage Theft Led To Microsoft Construction Workers' Termination

A union claimed in a US labor board lawsuit that dozens of construction workers on a Microsoft Corp. data center were illegally fired for protesting.

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The Union Brotherhood of Carpenters claimed in a Monday complaint with the National Labor Relations Board that Dulles Drywall Inc. had retaliated against 47 workers who had been working on the building of a Microsoft facility in Virginia. The complaint made no mention of the software behemoth.

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According to the Carpenters' complaint, Dulles Drywall fired the workers because they staged a work stoppage, sought unpaid wages, and attempted to unionize. According to the complaint, the corporation also forcibly made employees sign agreements claiming they were independent contractors when, in reality, they should have been given the same status as employees with labor protections.

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The union is pressing Microsoft to implement stricter guidelines so that its staffing vendors uphold the rights of employees to organize. Sandra Sandoval, a sacked employee, stated on Tuesday that "they should have regulations to prevent this type of thing from happening." "For everyone who contributes to their projects, whether or not they are Microsoft employees."

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Microsoft didn't respond right away. An query was not immediately answered by Dulles Drywall.

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Officials from the regional NLRB will examine the complaint. They will bring the case before an agency judge if they decide the accusations have validity and they are unable to reach a settlement. The decisions of such a judge may be challenged before members of the NLRB in Washington and then a federal appeals court, a procedure that may take years. The labor board has the power to order reinstatement of fired employees with back pay, but it does not have the power to impose businesses punitive damages for breaking the law.

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The dispute over what American IT companies owe the legions of contract employees on whom their businesses depend is at its latest stage in this case. It happens at a delicate time for Microsoft, which has been trying to gain support for its $69 billion acquisition of gaming giant Activision Blizzard Inc. by building a more union-friendly reputation.

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Microsoft has already taken positions on how contract workers are treated. The business declared in 2015 that it will mandate that significant vendors give their staff at least 15 days of paid time off annually. The company stated at the time that "the people who work for our suppliers are vital to our success and we want them to have the advantage of paid time off."

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That revelation came after a group of Microsoft bug-testers working under subcontract decided to unionize. The group later claimed that their employment vendor fired them all in retribution, citing a drop in demand from Microsoft. (The businesses denied wrongdoing, and the employees reached a settlement in 2016)

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Microsoft released a new set of unionization guidelines last year, pledging to use "collaborative ways that would make it simpler" for workers to exercise their right to opt out of unionization. The first direct Microsoft employee union was successfully established by around 300 video game testers, according to a January statement from the Communications Workers of America. According to CWA, the employer promised to take a neutral stance as opposed to opposing the union.

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Labor activists contend that the firm should require its suppliers to adopt a similarly labor-friendly strategy. Virginia Diamond, head of the AFL-Northern CIO's Virginia chapter, asserted that "they have the authority to make things right." They cannot simply turn their heads.

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Being the home to hundreds of locations providing internet cloud technologies for companies like Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., and Visa Inc., Northern Virginia has emerged as a major global hub for data centers. Union officials contend that if workers' rights are maintained, the rise in data center development could actually be beneficial for tax revenue and excellent jobs. This is despite some local opposition due to noise and environmental concerns.

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For the most part, they offer thousands of electricians and other skilled craftspeople significant employment opportunities, according to Diamond. The exception is while the physical structure is being built, where widespread misclassification and wage fraud occur.

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