WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh today announced that Argentina, Canada, Germany, South Africa and Spain have joined the Multilateral Partnership for Organizing, Worker Empowerment and Rights initiative and that the effort has established a new action plan and that the U.S. has exceeded its 2021 pledge of support. The M-POWER initiative remains the largest U.S. government commitment to advance worker empowerment and support trade union rights in the global economy.

In the week ending December 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 230,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 225,000 to 226,000. The 4-week moving average was 230,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 228,750 to 229,000.

Employer name:                    Oak Texas Bar & Grill LLC

                                                        Oak Texas Bar LLC

Participants:      U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration

                                   Consulate General of Mexico

Employer:                                          Justar Fashion Inc.

Investigation sites:                            2660 Chico Ave.

Employer:                           CHU Contracting Inc.                                                                                                     

DENVER – A federal whistleblower investigation has found a Denver-based information technology services provider retaliated against an employee who raised concerns about the company’s failure to pay trust fund taxes to the IRS.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Federal workplace safety investigators have determined that an Arkansas construction contractor failed to test oxygen levels in the confined space before two workers entered a sewer 20 feet below ground at an Edmond work site and died because of a lack of oxygen.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL - Una investigación del Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. ha descubierto que un restaurante de St. Petersburg se interpuso a la ley federal, lo cual condujo a la recuperación de $28,162 en salarios atrasados para 36 empleados, y cambios en las prácticas de pago de los empleadores. El empleador pagaba ilegalmente al personal de cocina, los lavaplatos y los meseros como contratistas independientes.

SEATTLE – While 77 care workers employed by Seattle-area adult family home providers worked long hours to ensure the well-being and daily needs of older adults and people with disabilities, a federal investigation has found their employers were shortchanging them $530,418 in wages.

LOS ANGELES – El Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. recuperó $370,194 en salarios atrasados ​​y compensación por daños de los dueños de dos restaurantes en Los Ángeles y Pasadena que ilegalmente negaron el pago de horas extra a 54 trabajadores y trataron de ocultarlo.

LINCOLN, NE – A federal court in Nebraska today entered a consent order and judgment in which Packers Sanitation Services Inc. LTD – one of the nation’s largest providers of food safety sanitation services – agreed to immediately comply with child labor laws at all facilities nationwide and to take significant steps to ensure future compliance, including employing an outside compliance specialist.

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $370,194 in back wages and liquidated damages from the owners of two restaurants in Los Angeles and Pasadena who illegally denied overtime wages to 54 workers, and attempted to hide their misdeeds.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found a St. Petersburg restaurant ran afoul of federal law, leading to the recovery of $28,162 in back wages for 36 employees, and changes to the employers’ pay practices. The employer illegally paid kitchen staff, dishwashers, and servers as independent contractors.

PHOENIX – El Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. está buscando a empleados actuales y anteriores de un contratista de construcción de Tempe, Arizona, a quienes se les debe entregar parte de los más de $2.6 millones en salarios por horas extra y compensación por daños recuperados después de que un tribunal federal aprobó un dictamen por consentimiento luego de un largo litigio e investigación por parte del departamento.

PHOENIX – The U.S. Department of Labor is seeking current and former employees of a Tempe construction contractor who may be owed a share of more than $2.6 million in overtime wages and damages recovered after a federal court approved a consent judgment in response to litigation and a long-standing investigation by the department.

PANAMA CITY BEACH, FL - El Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. ha recuperado $503,053 en salarios atrasados y daños y perjuicios para 227 trabajadores de una agencia de personal de hoteles en Panama City Beach que les negaba los salarios completos y los beneficios cuando el empleador los clasificaba erróneamente como contratistas independientes.

PANAMA CITY BEACH, FL – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $503,053 in back wages and liquidated damages for 227 workers of a Panama City Beach hotel staffing agency that denied them full wages and benefits when the employer misclassified them as independent contractors.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health Christopher J. Williamson issued the following statement in recognition of Dec. 6, 2022, as National Miners Day:

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Deputy Undersecretary for International Labor Affairs Thea Lee issued the following statement on the Department of State’s appointment of Kelly Marie Fay Rodriguez as Special Representative for International Labor Affairs: