Chicago-area contractor previously issued 13 citations, $360,000 for failing to protect workers

CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Labor is seeking an administrative court order requiring Gerardi Sewer & Water Co., a Norridge, Ill.-based contractor, to provide a monthly report of its work locations to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, permit unannounced jobsite audits by qualified independent consultants and annually train workers on cave-in protection for the next two years.

Revised methodology better protects US workers

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration today announced the publication of a final rule that improves the H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker program and better protects U.S. workers. The final rule, to be published in the Jan. 19 edition of the Federal Register, addresses the calculations used to set wage rates for H-2B workers.

MINNEAPOLIS – A federal district court in Minneapolis has granted the U.S. Department of Labor's motion for summary judgment requiring Copy Cat Business Systems Inc. and its former owners, Susan Blackford and Joel Blackford, to repay $13,218.76 in employee contributions and lost interest owed to the company's savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account. The court's decision resolves a lawsuit filed by the Labor Department against the defendants for alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a court judgment and order appointing an independent fiduciary to manage the 401(k) plan of defunct CEA Systems Inc. of Canton, Mass. The company operated as CEA Incorporated and CEA Inc.

WASHINGTON – Solicitor of Labor M. Patricia Smith today issued the following statement regarding new developments in the ongoing investigation of the April 5, 2010, explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in Raleigh County, W.Va.

MSHA chief pledges continued enforcement, outreach on behalf of nations miners

ARLINGTON, Va. – Mining fatalities in the United States significantly increased in 2010, following a year marked by the fewest deaths in mining history, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration. Seventy-one miners died on the job last year, compared to 34 in 2009. Forty-eight of those deaths occurred in coal mines, and 23 occurred at metal and nonmetal operations.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $775,351 National Emergency Grant to assist about 115 workers affected by layoffs at five companies in northeast Iowa.

"Only another job can replace a job lost," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "Training and employment services provided through today's grant can help these workers open doors to new careers that offer good wages and opportunities for advancement."

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending Jan. 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 445,000, an increase of 35,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 410,000. The 4-week moving average was 416,500, an increase of 5,500 from the previous week's revised average of 411,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.1 percent for the week ending Jan. 1, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.3 percent.

WEST COVINA, Calif. — The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division has resolved an investigation against contractor CALNET Inc. and two subcontractors providing language, intelligence and information technology services to the U.S. Army at Ft. Irwin, Calif. The three companies had paid employees improperly for on-call time.

Austin, Texas - The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment and order resolving a lawsuit against Austin-based HBMG Inc. and Manuel Zarate, the company’s president. The suit alleged that the defendants violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

“Plan officials have a duty to manage and protect employees’ benefit plans and their assets,” said Roger Hilburn, Employee Benefits Security Administration’s regional director in Dallas. “EBSA took this action to restore plan assets that were not properly preserved for the company’s workers.”

RALEIGH, N.C. – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment requiring that the Castleton Group recognize in its bankruptcy filing a priority claim of $66,705 in health insurance premiums owed to plan participants of the former Raleigh-based company.

The judgment also permanently bars former company president Suzanne Clifton from serving as a fiduciary of any employee benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act in the future.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that a federal judge with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania has issued a preliminary injunction against Rosebud Mining Co. In a federal lawsuit filed on Dec.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor has completed its expansion of the Site Exposure Matrices website, an effort that began in May 2010. The final six additions to the website include the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Livermore, Calif.), the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (also known as the East Tennessee Technology Park or K-25, in Oak Ridge, Tenn.), the Y-12 Plant (Oak Ridge, Tenn.), the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (Paducah, Ky.), the Pantex Plant (Amarillo, Texas) and the Pinellas Plant (Clearwater, Fla.).

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards today published a request for information notice seeking public comments to assist the department in issuing guidance concerning the use of electronic voting systems in union officer elections.

CHICAGO — The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $1,368,946 in back wages and fringe benefits for 140 employees of Total Enterprise Inc., a bus transportation company, following an investigation by the department's Wage and Hour Division under the Service Contract Act.

SCANDIA, Minn. – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against Thommes and Thomas Land Clearing Inc. of Scandia and its owners in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota for their alleged failure to remit and timely forward employee contributions owed to the company’s retirement plan, in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis will re-establish the charter of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Maritime Advisory Committee for Occupational Safety and Health. Established in 1995, the committee is composed of approximately 15 members who are industry professionals selected to represent the interests of the maritime community. A notice is published in today's Federal Register, which may be viewed at http://s.dol.gov/CJ.

LOS ANGELES — Clothing manufacturer Joe's Jeans has paid $158,952 in back wages owed to 110 garment workers who worked for one of the company's Los Angeles-based sewing contractors. The action results from an agreement between Joe's Jeans in Commerce, Calif., and the U.S. Department of Labor following an investigation by the department's Wage and Hour Division that found the contractor failed to pay the workers minimum wage and overtime as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today issued the following statement regarding the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords:

"My thoughts and prayers are with my friend and former colleague, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and all of the victims of this terrible, senseless act of violence.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis issued the following statement on the December 2010 Employment Situation report released today: