State cracks down on construction companies accused of not paying workers

Since the beginning of this year, state and city authorities have cracked down on several construction contractors who they say withheld more than $2.5 million from hundreds of workers across the city. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance on Monday announced criminal charges against seven companies in the city and one each in Nassau and Westchester counties, for allegedly shortchanging more than 400 workers. Some $700,000 in wages has already been returned to workers, the DA said. “Every day, construction workers who risk their lives doing dangerous jobs have to wonder whether they’ll actually be paid for their work,” Vance said in a statement. “Wage theft is one of the most pervasive problems in New York City and State, and in the construction industry in particular, workers are all too often preyed upon by their employers.”