FOR

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 8, 2016
Media Contact:
Marshall Bertram
mbertram@wnycosh.org
(716) 833-5416 (ext. 12)

WESTERN NEW YORK CONTRACTOR AND OWNERS FACE $38,000 FINE AND BAN FROM
PUBLIC WORK IN NEW JERSEY

MISSING FINAL PAYCHECK LEADS TO PREVAILING WAGE THEFT INVESTIGATION IN NEW JERSEY

Audubon Machinery Corporation has been charged with willfully failing to pay its workers the
prevailing wage on an out-of-state job. The New Jersey Department of Labor alleges that
Audubon, a manufacturing company from North Tonawanda, New York, won the job by a low
bid and then illegally failed to pay its workers what it promised in that bid. In July 2014,
employees of the company installed cage and bottle washing equipment at the University of
Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey. Upon investigation, the Department found a discrepancy
between state-mandated certified payroll records and the actual pay records for the companys
employees $19,000 in missing wages for six workers. In addition to wages, Audubon is being
charged penalties and fees for the seven violations for a total of $37,821.

Debarment from public work in New Jersey is also being considered for the company, several of
its officers, and the chair of its board, including Chair and U.S. Congressman Christopher Collins,
President Joseph McMahon, and CEO Robert Schlehr.

The case started when a former worker at Audubon sought the help of the WNY Council on
Occupational Safety and Health (WNYCOSH), a worker rights organization. He claimed the
company failed to give him his last paycheck, did not pay the prevailing wage on the job, and
retaliated against him after he demanded his wages. WNYCOSH sent a letter to the company
demanding the wages he had earned without reply. Then workers, community members, and
labor organizations held a rally at the companys headquarters in December 2014. Audubon
agreed to pay him his last paycheck, but denied failing to pay prevailing wages on the job in
New Jersey.

Marshall Bertram, an attorney and WNYCOSH staff, dug up public contract documents and
payroll records from the University and found the discrepancy between Audubons state-
mandated certified payroll records and what the workers actually were paid. The evidence was
then brought to the New Jersey Department of Labor. "Audubon Machinery tried to gain an
unfair competitive advantage over responsible contractors by cheating workers on public works

and stealing taxpayer dollars. Congressman Collins should be ashamed of himself and pay back
workers immediately rather than contest the charges" said Anna Falicov, General Counsel to
the New York Foundation for Fair Contracting, a non-profit organization that assisted in
bringing the violation to the NJDOLs attention.

Audubon and Collins are no strangers to taxpayer dollars. Since 2006, Audubon has received
$9.8 million from the Export-Import Bank of the U.S.1 a controversial bank that gives taxpayer
money to businesses that Collins vehemently defended in 2015 in his role as Congressman.2
Audubon has received millions of other taxpayer dollars in federal grants, government loans,
and state and federal contracts.3 Collins himself draws income from eleven other companies
and sits on the board of directors of thirteen, many of which rely on money from state and
federal contracts, public subsidies, and government loans.4 Audubons involvement in
prevailing wage theft could have potential consequences for these other companies. Collins is
facing debarment from New Jersey public work both as the chairman of the Audubon board of
directors and individually, meaning no New Jersey public contracts could be awarded to any
company in which he has an interest.

In addition to reliance on public money, Collins companies have another commonality a
contentious history with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Of the
seven companies that are not simply real estate LLCs, four have racked up over 100 OSHA
violations.5 A few date back to the Administrations inception in the early 1980s, but many are
more recent. Including one company that has already violated safety standards in the early
months 2016.

"The hard working men and women of this country deserve a decent and livable wage," said
Senator Marc Panepinto (D-Buffalo). "To blatantly cheat them out of that hard-earned right and
the financial stability that they deserve is nothing short of criminal. I encourage those involved
to pay the prevailing wage that is owed and urge the Department of Labor to hold those
responsible fully accountable for their shameful actions."
1

U.S. Export-Import Bank Authorizations from 10/1/2006 to 6/30/2015, available at data.exim.gov.

Zremski, Jerry, Collins Bucks Tea Party to Help Save Trade Bank, Buffalo News (Buffalo, NY), October 27, 2015
www.buffalonews.com/city-region/collins-bucks-tea-party-to-help-save-trade-bank-20151027.
3
Federal Contract data gathered from www.usaspending.gov, government-contracts.insidegov.com, and
data.exim.gov.
4
Christopher Collins 2014 Congressional Financial Disclosure Statement, available at
http://clerk.house.gov/public_disc/financial-pdfs/2014/9106603.pdf.
5
U.S. Department of Labors Enforcement Data for Audubon Machinery Corporation, Bloch Industries, Volland
Electric Equipment, and Easom Automation Systems, available at http://ogesdw.dol.gov/views/search.php. (Some
companies have multiple entries for different formats, e.g., Volland Electric Equipment Corp. and Volland Electric
Equipment Corporation).
2


Richard Lipsitz, President of the WNY Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, stated The prevailing
rate was put in place to ensure workers are paid a decent wage and to protect responsible
contractors from being underbid. When responsible contractors are put at a disadvantage
against one that breaks the law, there must be consequences.

Audubon is contesting the charges and will appear before the NJDOL on March 10th for a
hearing on charges of unpaid wages, failure to pay prevailing wage, failure to register,
obstruction, hindering, and others.
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