By Brian Boyd
South Coast Today
October 17, 2009
NEW BEDFORD — Workers who lost their jobs when the Eagle Industries plant shut down this summer will have more opportunities for job training and adult education thanks to additional state funding.
The state gave permission a few weeks ago for the Greater New Bedford Workforce Investment Board to draw down the first half of $565,000 in state funding. Any of the 350 who lost their jobs can go to the Greater New Bedford Career Center, which is overseen by the board, and sign up for services now, said Leonard W. Coriaty, the board's executive director.
"People can walk in the door, and there is no delay in services," Coriaty said Friday.
The board will be able to access the other half of the state money in two months, pending a review. The board is also working with state officials to apply for $1.4 million in federal money for training about 500 laid-off workers, most of them from Eagle.
If the board succeeds in winning the federal grant, the money would cover whatever the state had kicked in up to that point, so the total would not exceed $1.4 million, Coriaty said.
The state money covers the hiring of four more staff members at the career center, as well as adult education, English language lessons and job training. Most of the former Eagle employees need help in all three of those areas, he said.
"There is a high and deep need for the population that was in the company, in terms of education and skills, whether English skills or occupational skills," he said.
The sooner workers sign up for this training the better because the lessons could take months and officials want workers to be ready when more jobs become available, he said.
In March, Alliant Techsystems Inc. bought Eagle Industries and its South End plant, where military backpacks were made. Less than two months later, ATK announced it was shutting down the plant and moving the work to Puerto Rico. Before Eagle took it over, the plant had served as the Michael Bianco Inc. factory, the site of a massive federal immigration raid in March 2007.
While Workforce Investment Board officials are working on training the former Eagle employees, a new textile business, New Bedford Tactical Gear, was launched in August and has hired people who had worked at the closed factory.
New Jersey Headwear Corp. of Newark, N.J., the parent company of Tactical Gear, now employs 16 people at the New Bedford facility and expects to add another 15 to 20 next month. It aims to reach a total of 70 by the end of the year and will continue to give preference to former Eagle employees.
"We're basically on schedule," Mitch Cahn, president of New Jersey Headwear, said Friday.
Tactical Gear started by making ammunition bags. Cahn said he will be able to ramp up operations if he gets more orders under his current contract, wins another military contract or secures a separate contract with a private company, possibly manufacturing bags for Victoria's Secret.
He also expects to shift some of his baseball cap manufacturing from New Jersey to New Bedford, which will help support a staff of 70.
"I have enjoyed working in New Bedford," Cahn said. "I really do find it an easy place to do business."
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091017/NEWS/910170329/-1/NEWSMAP
Showing posts with label Bianco Raid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bianco Raid. Show all posts
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Factory that was site of '07 customs raid to shut
The Associated Press
May 30, 2009
NEW BEDFORD - A leather-goods factory raided in 2007 by US immigration agents will close its doors by July 31, the company that owns the plant said yesterday.
Alliant Techsystems, a Minneapolis-based military contractor, said in a statement that the factory was operating well below capacity and that the closure is part of a consolidation plan of its wholly owned subsidiary, Eagle Industries Inc.
US Representative Barney Frank called the closure "absolute corporate savagery" and said it made ATK "unfit" to continue as a US contractor. "To buy a company solely for the purpose of closing it down, presumably to eliminate a competitor, is irresponsibility of the worst sort," Frank said.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/05/30/factory_that_was_site_of_07_customs_raid_to_shut/
May 30, 2009
NEW BEDFORD - A leather-goods factory raided in 2007 by US immigration agents will close its doors by July 31, the company that owns the plant said yesterday.
Alliant Techsystems, a Minneapolis-based military contractor, said in a statement that the factory was operating well below capacity and that the closure is part of a consolidation plan of its wholly owned subsidiary, Eagle Industries Inc.
US Representative Barney Frank called the closure "absolute corporate savagery" and said it made ATK "unfit" to continue as a US contractor. "To buy a company solely for the purpose of closing it down, presumably to eliminate a competitor, is irresponsibility of the worst sort," Frank said.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/05/30/factory_that_was_site_of_07_customs_raid_to_shut/
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Effects felt 2 years after raid on US warehouse
Effects felt 2 years after raid on US warehouse
Associated Press/Taiwan News
March 8, 2009
It's been two years since federal immigration agents raided a leather-goods factory and U.S. military supplier and arrested nearly 400 workers suspected of being in the country illegally. But immigrant advocates say the effects on the community still can be felt.
Eva Millona, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said some cases from the raid remain unsolved and some families aren't sure if they will be split up permanently because of deportations.
"There's a general fear that's spread in the community," Millona said.
In March 2007, federal agents raided Michael Bianco Inc., in New Bedford, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) south of Boston, and arrested 361 workers, most of whom were from Central America.
Michael Bianco had 85 employees in 2002, when it began winning bids to supply gear to the military. It was up to 325 workers in 2004, when it landed an $82 million contract to make vests and backpacks for the Pentagon's purchasing arm.
Federal officials said the company's rapid growth was on the backs of illegal immigrants, and they arrested its owner and top managers.
As of last week, 168 of the arrested workers had been deported, and 116 were awaiting court rulings. Meanwhile, 26 had received deportation orders, and 16 had their residency changed to legal status. The statuses of other cases were unclear.
Immigrant advocates criticized the raid for separating families and leaving children without proper care. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the raid was properly handled.
In January, factory owner Francesco Insolia was sentenced to a year in prison for harboring and concealing illegal immigrants. The company was ordered to pay $1 million for 18 counts of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants between 2004 and late 2006.
Insolia's attorney, Frank Libby Jr., said the nation's immigration enforcement puts too much pressure on employers.
"It's left at the employers' door _ the one and only point where the country's immigration policies are supposed to be enforced," he said.
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=886254&lang=eng_news
Associated Press/Taiwan News
March 8, 2009
It's been two years since federal immigration agents raided a leather-goods factory and U.S. military supplier and arrested nearly 400 workers suspected of being in the country illegally. But immigrant advocates say the effects on the community still can be felt.
Eva Millona, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said some cases from the raid remain unsolved and some families aren't sure if they will be split up permanently because of deportations.
"There's a general fear that's spread in the community," Millona said.
In March 2007, federal agents raided Michael Bianco Inc., in New Bedford, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) south of Boston, and arrested 361 workers, most of whom were from Central America.
Michael Bianco had 85 employees in 2002, when it began winning bids to supply gear to the military. It was up to 325 workers in 2004, when it landed an $82 million contract to make vests and backpacks for the Pentagon's purchasing arm.
Federal officials said the company's rapid growth was on the backs of illegal immigrants, and they arrested its owner and top managers.
As of last week, 168 of the arrested workers had been deported, and 116 were awaiting court rulings. Meanwhile, 26 had received deportation orders, and 16 had their residency changed to legal status. The statuses of other cases were unclear.
Immigrant advocates criticized the raid for separating families and leaving children without proper care. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the raid was properly handled.
In January, factory owner Francesco Insolia was sentenced to a year in prison for harboring and concealing illegal immigrants. The company was ordered to pay $1 million for 18 counts of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants between 2004 and late 2006.
Insolia's attorney, Frank Libby Jr., said the nation's immigration enforcement puts too much pressure on employers.
"It's left at the employers' door _ the one and only point where the country's immigration policies are supposed to be enforced," he said.
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=886254&lang=eng_news
Friday, March 6, 2009
Two years after raid, Bianco workers' lives in limbo
Two years after raid, Bianco workers' lives in limbo
By BECKY W. EVANS
revans@s-t.com
March 06, 2009
Southcoast Today
NEW BEDFORD — Life has changed a lot for Elsy Hernandez in the two years since she was detained in a federal immigration raid and sent to a Texas prison for working illegally at the Michael Bianco Inc. factory.
The 29-year-old Honduran immigrant now has a legal work permit and a driver's license.
"I can go to any company and ask for a job without being afraid," she said through a Spanish interpreter.
But life isn't perfect. Like others suffering from the economic downturn, she is unemployed and looking for a job.
She and her former co-workers drained their savings accounts in the aftermath of the Bianco raid, using the money to post bail and pay rent and utilities while they were fighting their immigration cases in court and unable to work.
Hernandez carries dark memories from the March 6, 2007, raid, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers stormed the Bianco military equipment factory and arrested 361 undocumented workers, many of them Central American women whose children were stranded at day care or with baby-sitters.
Hernandez, who has no children, said she "suffered a lot" during her monthlong stay at an ICE detention facility in Los Fresnos, Texas. She is grateful to the lawyers, psychologists and philanthropists who have helped her stitch her life back together. Slowly.
"It's very hard to be stable again," she said.
STATUS UPDATE
Hernandez is among only a handful of former Bianco workers whose cases have been resolved. In May 2008, she was granted temporary protected status, a special designation allowing her to temporarily live and work in the United States. Hondurans received the protective status in 1998 following Hurricane Mitch. The designation has been extended through July 2010.
In November, ICE reported that of the 361 Bianco workers arrested in the raid, approximately 168 were deported to their home countries, 116 of the workers were awaiting a court ruling on deportation, 26 had received final deportation orders and would be sent to their home countries, and 16 had their residency changed to legal status. The exact status of another 35 cases in the system was unclear.
ICE officials failed to respond to repeated attempts made by The Standard-Times over the past two weeks to get updated figures on the status of Bianco workers.
The majority of the workers who were released from detention are still fighting their cases in U.S. immigration court, according to attorneys from Greater Boston Legal Services. More than 100 of those cases are being fought by lawyers from GBLS and Catholic Social Services. Both legal advocacy groups have provided free legal counsel to raid victims.
The lawyers have won a handful of cases and to date, none of their clients have been deported, said GBLS attorney John Willshire Carrera. Four workers are on the path to permanent legal residency, while another two have won temporary legal status to live and work in this country. Five other workers are filing for a U-visa, which grants temporary legal status to victims of violent crimes who cooperate with police.
Carrera estimated that it will be another year and a half before all the outstanding Bianco cases are resolved. If any of the decisions are appealed, it could take longer, he said.
LIVING IN LIMBO
Catholic Social Services attorney Ondine Galvez Sniffin said life will continue "to be very hard" for the Bianco workers, who have been living in limbo for the past two years.
"Families are just kind of waiting to get a resolution of their case," said Corinn Williams, director of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts. "They keep fighting to stay and build a life here. Their children are two years older and are now in the school system."
One group of workers must travel to Burlington at least once a month to check in with ICE officials, while another group is required to report to ICE through an automated telephone number. Since many do not drive, they rely on transportation provided by immigrant advocacy groups.
While they wait for their cases to be resolved, the Bianco workers are not authorized to work. Jobs for undocumented workers are increasingly hard to find.
"The way the economy is now and the anti-immigrant attitude of some people means (business owners) are not likely to give workers jobs without proper identification," Sniffin said.
Families affected by the raid have received financial assistance over the past two years from the Ninos Fund, which is supported through private donations and managed by the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts.
Fund managers have released an additional $45,000 in funding for housing assistance and food due to the worsening economy, said foundation president Craig Dutra. But he warned that the fund, which has raised a total of $185,000 since its establishment days after the Bianco raid, "is getting small."
Hernandez said financial assistance from the New Bedford community and beyond is one of the things that has helped keep hope alive for raid victims.
"With the blessing of God, we're getting better," she said. "Little by little, we're doing it."
INSOLIA SENTENCE
Former Bianco owner Francesco Insolia is expected to "self report" to federal authorities today to begin serving his sentence of 12 months and one day in federal prison. His sentencing includes three years of supervised release and payment of a $30,000 fine for helping to harbor and conceal illegal immigrants.
Insolia pleaded guilty in November to his role in employing illegal immigrants at the South End leather factory, which had won Department of Defense contracts to manufacture military vests and other equipment for U.S. troops fighting overseas.
Also in November, Michael Bianco Inc. pleaded guilty to 18 counts of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine. In a separate settlement agreement for a class action lawsuit, the company committed to paying $850,000 in unpaid overtime and wages to more than 750 workers.
Some Bianco workers on Sunday received the first settlement checks, ranging from less than $20 to $6,000 based on how much overtime they had worked. Hernandez received a check for about $3,500.
"We are very thankful for this," she said. "This fight was not a waste of time. They paid us what we were supposed to be paid. We won."
In a letter to new Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., wrote that he was "pleased that the owner of the Bianco factory was finally incarcerated for his crimes and some of the Bianco employees have received restitution. Sadly, there are families that will never be able to recover financially or emotionally from the ICE raid."
STILL TRAUMATIZED
UMass Dartmouth anthropology professor Lisa Maya Knauer has been studying the city's Central American immigrant community since the Bianco raid. Her interviews with Salvadoran and Mayan workers have revealed that the impact of the raid varies by individual.
"There are people for whom it is still really traumatic and a lot of people who have more or less taken it in stride," she said. "Some people are still pretty kind of shell-shocked."
Williams described the daily life of raid victims as "a continuing nightmare."
"When you speak to people who were detained and who were separated from their children and sent to Texas, you realize it is an ongoing trauma... I am convinced it is very tough for these families to put it all behind them and move forward," she said.
Sniffin explained how the process of filing for asylum has forced some of the Bianco workers to relive trauma they suffered earlier in life as victims of civil war in their home countries.
"Their survival depends on past horrors they have suffered," she said.
Knauer said she is most surprised by how the workers interpreted the raid as a sign of deep, personal rejection.
"They see it as, you, America, don't want me here," she said.
IMMIGRATION REFORM
Ken Pittman, a conservative talk radio host on WBSM-AM in Fairhaven, said he doesn't feel sympathy for the Bianco workers because they have made a conscious choice to stay in the country after they broke the law to get here.
"I'm glad they got their money; they worked for it," he said of the settlement checks. "Whether or not they should have had jobs in the first place is another story."
He said he would like to see Congress and the Obama administration develop comprehensive immigration reform that is strong on enforcement and "sensible, quick and efficient" in processing applications from those who want to enter the country legally.
Sniffin said she is looking for reform that will give her clients "a fairer shot at the American dream."
"They are entitled at a fair shot, but right now, with what's on the books, they do not get one," she said.
New Bedford Mayor Scott W. Lang said President Barack Obama and Congress need to develop a system "that has some sort of pathway for legal status for these individuals." He said their first step should be requiring all illegal immigrants to register so they come out of the shadows. The next step would be for both Republican and Democratic leaders to "pound out a bill that has a practical application for cities and towns ... so we can then implement the program," he said.
Reflecting on how the raid had impacted New Bedford, Mayor Lang said it highlighted both the charity and diversity of the city's residents.
"People regardless of their position on immigration reform stepped forward to try to help the families of the individuals who were detained. ... New Bedford is much more aware of who lives in our city and how they form part of the fabric of our city," he said.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090306/NEWS/903060344
By BECKY W. EVANS
revans@s-t.com
March 06, 2009
Southcoast Today
NEW BEDFORD — Life has changed a lot for Elsy Hernandez in the two years since she was detained in a federal immigration raid and sent to a Texas prison for working illegally at the Michael Bianco Inc. factory.
The 29-year-old Honduran immigrant now has a legal work permit and a driver's license.
"I can go to any company and ask for a job without being afraid," she said through a Spanish interpreter.
But life isn't perfect. Like others suffering from the economic downturn, she is unemployed and looking for a job.
She and her former co-workers drained their savings accounts in the aftermath of the Bianco raid, using the money to post bail and pay rent and utilities while they were fighting their immigration cases in court and unable to work.
Hernandez carries dark memories from the March 6, 2007, raid, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers stormed the Bianco military equipment factory and arrested 361 undocumented workers, many of them Central American women whose children were stranded at day care or with baby-sitters.
Hernandez, who has no children, said she "suffered a lot" during her monthlong stay at an ICE detention facility in Los Fresnos, Texas. She is grateful to the lawyers, psychologists and philanthropists who have helped her stitch her life back together. Slowly.
"It's very hard to be stable again," she said.
STATUS UPDATE
Hernandez is among only a handful of former Bianco workers whose cases have been resolved. In May 2008, she was granted temporary protected status, a special designation allowing her to temporarily live and work in the United States. Hondurans received the protective status in 1998 following Hurricane Mitch. The designation has been extended through July 2010.
In November, ICE reported that of the 361 Bianco workers arrested in the raid, approximately 168 were deported to their home countries, 116 of the workers were awaiting a court ruling on deportation, 26 had received final deportation orders and would be sent to their home countries, and 16 had their residency changed to legal status. The exact status of another 35 cases in the system was unclear.
ICE officials failed to respond to repeated attempts made by The Standard-Times over the past two weeks to get updated figures on the status of Bianco workers.
The majority of the workers who were released from detention are still fighting their cases in U.S. immigration court, according to attorneys from Greater Boston Legal Services. More than 100 of those cases are being fought by lawyers from GBLS and Catholic Social Services. Both legal advocacy groups have provided free legal counsel to raid victims.
The lawyers have won a handful of cases and to date, none of their clients have been deported, said GBLS attorney John Willshire Carrera. Four workers are on the path to permanent legal residency, while another two have won temporary legal status to live and work in this country. Five other workers are filing for a U-visa, which grants temporary legal status to victims of violent crimes who cooperate with police.
Carrera estimated that it will be another year and a half before all the outstanding Bianco cases are resolved. If any of the decisions are appealed, it could take longer, he said.
LIVING IN LIMBO
Catholic Social Services attorney Ondine Galvez Sniffin said life will continue "to be very hard" for the Bianco workers, who have been living in limbo for the past two years.
"Families are just kind of waiting to get a resolution of their case," said Corinn Williams, director of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts. "They keep fighting to stay and build a life here. Their children are two years older and are now in the school system."
One group of workers must travel to Burlington at least once a month to check in with ICE officials, while another group is required to report to ICE through an automated telephone number. Since many do not drive, they rely on transportation provided by immigrant advocacy groups.
While they wait for their cases to be resolved, the Bianco workers are not authorized to work. Jobs for undocumented workers are increasingly hard to find.
"The way the economy is now and the anti-immigrant attitude of some people means (business owners) are not likely to give workers jobs without proper identification," Sniffin said.
Families affected by the raid have received financial assistance over the past two years from the Ninos Fund, which is supported through private donations and managed by the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts.
Fund managers have released an additional $45,000 in funding for housing assistance and food due to the worsening economy, said foundation president Craig Dutra. But he warned that the fund, which has raised a total of $185,000 since its establishment days after the Bianco raid, "is getting small."
Hernandez said financial assistance from the New Bedford community and beyond is one of the things that has helped keep hope alive for raid victims.
"With the blessing of God, we're getting better," she said. "Little by little, we're doing it."
INSOLIA SENTENCE
Former Bianco owner Francesco Insolia is expected to "self report" to federal authorities today to begin serving his sentence of 12 months and one day in federal prison. His sentencing includes three years of supervised release and payment of a $30,000 fine for helping to harbor and conceal illegal immigrants.
Insolia pleaded guilty in November to his role in employing illegal immigrants at the South End leather factory, which had won Department of Defense contracts to manufacture military vests and other equipment for U.S. troops fighting overseas.
Also in November, Michael Bianco Inc. pleaded guilty to 18 counts of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine. In a separate settlement agreement for a class action lawsuit, the company committed to paying $850,000 in unpaid overtime and wages to more than 750 workers.
Some Bianco workers on Sunday received the first settlement checks, ranging from less than $20 to $6,000 based on how much overtime they had worked. Hernandez received a check for about $3,500.
"We are very thankful for this," she said. "This fight was not a waste of time. They paid us what we were supposed to be paid. We won."
In a letter to new Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., wrote that he was "pleased that the owner of the Bianco factory was finally incarcerated for his crimes and some of the Bianco employees have received restitution. Sadly, there are families that will never be able to recover financially or emotionally from the ICE raid."
STILL TRAUMATIZED
UMass Dartmouth anthropology professor Lisa Maya Knauer has been studying the city's Central American immigrant community since the Bianco raid. Her interviews with Salvadoran and Mayan workers have revealed that the impact of the raid varies by individual.
"There are people for whom it is still really traumatic and a lot of people who have more or less taken it in stride," she said. "Some people are still pretty kind of shell-shocked."
Williams described the daily life of raid victims as "a continuing nightmare."
"When you speak to people who were detained and who were separated from their children and sent to Texas, you realize it is an ongoing trauma... I am convinced it is very tough for these families to put it all behind them and move forward," she said.
Sniffin explained how the process of filing for asylum has forced some of the Bianco workers to relive trauma they suffered earlier in life as victims of civil war in their home countries.
"Their survival depends on past horrors they have suffered," she said.
Knauer said she is most surprised by how the workers interpreted the raid as a sign of deep, personal rejection.
"They see it as, you, America, don't want me here," she said.
IMMIGRATION REFORM
Ken Pittman, a conservative talk radio host on WBSM-AM in Fairhaven, said he doesn't feel sympathy for the Bianco workers because they have made a conscious choice to stay in the country after they broke the law to get here.
"I'm glad they got their money; they worked for it," he said of the settlement checks. "Whether or not they should have had jobs in the first place is another story."
He said he would like to see Congress and the Obama administration develop comprehensive immigration reform that is strong on enforcement and "sensible, quick and efficient" in processing applications from those who want to enter the country legally.
Sniffin said she is looking for reform that will give her clients "a fairer shot at the American dream."
"They are entitled at a fair shot, but right now, with what's on the books, they do not get one," she said.
New Bedford Mayor Scott W. Lang said President Barack Obama and Congress need to develop a system "that has some sort of pathway for legal status for these individuals." He said their first step should be requiring all illegal immigrants to register so they come out of the shadows. The next step would be for both Republican and Democratic leaders to "pound out a bill that has a practical application for cities and towns ... so we can then implement the program," he said.
Reflecting on how the raid had impacted New Bedford, Mayor Lang said it highlighted both the charity and diversity of the city's residents.
"People regardless of their position on immigration reform stepped forward to try to help the families of the individuals who were detained. ... New Bedford is much more aware of who lives in our city and how they form part of the fabric of our city," he said.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090306/NEWS/903060344
Friday, January 30, 2009
Mass. factory owner sentenced in immigration case
Mass. factory owner sentenced in immigration case
The Boston Globe
January 27, 2009
BOSTON --The president of a New Bedford leather-goods factory that was raided in 2007 by immigration agents was sentenced Tuesday to 12 months in federal prison for harboring and concealing illegal immigrants.
Francesco Insolia, the owner of Michael Bianco Inc., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock after Insolia agreed in November to plead guilty.
Michael Bianco Inc. was also ordered to pay $1 million for 18 specific counts of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants between 2004 and late 2006.
Insolia told Woodlock he took full responsibility for not taking any action after being informed he had illegal immigrants working in his factory.
"I'm responsible for the conduct," Insolia said, while more than 30 emotional supporters listened. "Never in my worst nightmare would I think I'd find myself in the position I am in today."
In March 2007, federal authorities raided the Michael Bianco factory and arrested 361 workers, most of whom were from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.
Immigrant advocates criticized the March 2007 raid for separating families and leaving children without proper care. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the raid was properly handled.
The company was sold to Eagle Industries of Fenton, Mo., more than a year ago.
Woodlock said he received an "extraordinary group of letters" from Insolia's supporters -- including former Latino employees -- who praised the Sicilian-born Insolia as a boss and for his community work.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/01/27/mass_factory_owner_sentenced_in_immigration_case/
The Boston Globe
January 27, 2009
BOSTON --The president of a New Bedford leather-goods factory that was raided in 2007 by immigration agents was sentenced Tuesday to 12 months in federal prison for harboring and concealing illegal immigrants.
Francesco Insolia, the owner of Michael Bianco Inc., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock after Insolia agreed in November to plead guilty.
Michael Bianco Inc. was also ordered to pay $1 million for 18 specific counts of knowingly hiring illegal immigrants between 2004 and late 2006.
Insolia told Woodlock he took full responsibility for not taking any action after being informed he had illegal immigrants working in his factory.
"I'm responsible for the conduct," Insolia said, while more than 30 emotional supporters listened. "Never in my worst nightmare would I think I'd find myself in the position I am in today."
In March 2007, federal authorities raided the Michael Bianco factory and arrested 361 workers, most of whom were from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.
Immigrant advocates criticized the March 2007 raid for separating families and leaving children without proper care. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the raid was properly handled.
The company was sold to Eagle Industries of Fenton, Mo., more than a year ago.
Woodlock said he received an "extraordinary group of letters" from Insolia's supporters -- including former Latino employees -- who praised the Sicilian-born Insolia as a boss and for his community work.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/01/27/mass_factory_owner_sentenced_in_immigration_case/
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
New Bedford factory targeted in raid to pay $850,000 in overtime
New Bedford factory targeted in raid to pay $850,000 in overtime
November 18, 2008
Brian R. Ballou
Boston Globe Staff
The owners of a New Bedford leather goods factory raided by immigration officials settled a class action lawsuit today, agreeing to pay current and former workers $850,000 in overtime.
The federal lawsuit was brought by five former and one current employee of Michael Bianco Inc., but it extends to 764 workers, said Audrey Richardson, senior attorney for Greater Boston Legal Services, which has represented many of the workers detained in the March 2007 raid.
The lawsuit charged that the company set up a fake corporation, Front Line Defense Inc., to avoid paying overtime wages. Employees said they were required to clock out at 5 p.m. after working a full day shift at Michael Bianco and then clock back in at 5:30 p.m. for Front Line. They received checks from both companies, to make it appear they had not exceeded 40 hours a week.
"Most of the time, the workers were doing the same work on the same machine as they did during the day,'' Richardson said.
Employees who clocked the most hours will receive up to $8,000 in back overtime pay.
“For a lot of people who were victims, this is going to help them and their families," said Digna Mendoza, a former employee at the plant, through a translator. "What we’re asking for is respect. For a lot of us, we come here to work and support our family.”
The six employees who brought the lawsuit will receive an additional $2,000 above the back pay they are entitled to, compensation for coalescing the group of workers, Richardson said.
Two weeks ago, owners of Michael Bianco Inc. agreed to settle a federal criminal case that included restitution for overtime owed to workers. That restitution amount, approximately $460,000, is included in today's settlement.
"There were weeks when I would even work 16 hours a day, but would not get any payment for overtime," said Else Hernandez, who earned $7.25 an hour for most of her four years working at the plant.
Hernandez said the lawsuit has served notice to other companies that may be engaging in similar practices.
"Now in New Bedford, a lot of employers from different companies are learning and being cautious, because a lot of them were doing the same," said Hernandez, through an interpreter. "Now they are paying better and paying overtime."
Dozens of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stormed the Michael Bianco factory on March 6, 2007, detaining at least 361 illegal immigrants. In the days following, federal authorities drew sharp criticism for the raid and its aftermath. Some of the detainees complained of poor conditions at detention facilities and of coercion to sign deportation documents. Some relatives of those detained complained that the children of the detainees were left without their primary caregivers.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/11/new_bedford_fac.html
November 18, 2008
Brian R. Ballou
Boston Globe Staff
The owners of a New Bedford leather goods factory raided by immigration officials settled a class action lawsuit today, agreeing to pay current and former workers $850,000 in overtime.
The federal lawsuit was brought by five former and one current employee of Michael Bianco Inc., but it extends to 764 workers, said Audrey Richardson, senior attorney for Greater Boston Legal Services, which has represented many of the workers detained in the March 2007 raid.
The lawsuit charged that the company set up a fake corporation, Front Line Defense Inc., to avoid paying overtime wages. Employees said they were required to clock out at 5 p.m. after working a full day shift at Michael Bianco and then clock back in at 5:30 p.m. for Front Line. They received checks from both companies, to make it appear they had not exceeded 40 hours a week.
"Most of the time, the workers were doing the same work on the same machine as they did during the day,'' Richardson said.
Employees who clocked the most hours will receive up to $8,000 in back overtime pay.
“For a lot of people who were victims, this is going to help them and their families," said Digna Mendoza, a former employee at the plant, through a translator. "What we’re asking for is respect. For a lot of us, we come here to work and support our family.”
The six employees who brought the lawsuit will receive an additional $2,000 above the back pay they are entitled to, compensation for coalescing the group of workers, Richardson said.
Two weeks ago, owners of Michael Bianco Inc. agreed to settle a federal criminal case that included restitution for overtime owed to workers. That restitution amount, approximately $460,000, is included in today's settlement.
"There were weeks when I would even work 16 hours a day, but would not get any payment for overtime," said Else Hernandez, who earned $7.25 an hour for most of her four years working at the plant.
Hernandez said the lawsuit has served notice to other companies that may be engaging in similar practices.
"Now in New Bedford, a lot of employers from different companies are learning and being cautious, because a lot of them were doing the same," said Hernandez, through an interpreter. "Now they are paying better and paying overtime."
Dozens of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stormed the Michael Bianco factory on March 6, 2007, detaining at least 361 illegal immigrants. In the days following, federal authorities drew sharp criticism for the raid and its aftermath. Some of the detainees complained of poor conditions at detention facilities and of coercion to sign deportation documents. Some relatives of those detained complained that the children of the detainees were left without their primary caregivers.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/11/new_bedford_fac.html
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