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The U.S. Department of Labor reportedly is making good on bounced paychecks issued by a defunct security company whose employees guard federal facilities in the Northwest but who haven't been paid for two months.
"My understanding is that (U.S. Rep.) Doc Hastings put a lot of pressure on them and pushed the panic button to get this for us," said Justin Platt, who told the Herald he has stayed on his guard post at a federal building in Yakima despite his employer going out of business.
HWA, of Seattle, lost its contracts to protect federal facilities in the Pacific Northwest, including providing guards for six Army Corps of Engineers dams on the Columbia River system, the first week of September.
But that was five weeks after HWA employees saw their last paychecks, according to some workers.
"I talked to DOL and (they) told me that some former HWA employees have already been paid. This is good news," Jen Platt, Justin's wife, said in an e-mail Friday to the Herald.
She said Hastings' office called Thursday and told her husband that "we will be getting his back pay by the end of the month."
A U.S. Department of Labor spokesman in Seattle would not confirm if checks are on the way because the department's investigation is not finished.
"Legally, the case is still open and we can't comment," said Mark Shimizu, DOL spokesman.
Nearly 200 of HWA's former employees reportedly are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Herald has not been able to reach anyone with HWA, including the owners at their home and cell phones.
Steve Miller of Kennewick, who is one of dozens of HWA guards at regional dams, credited Herald stories for getting his back pay issued and for keeping his job with the interim security contractor.
The Herald reported Sept. 23 that the Corps dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers had been without security guards for two weeks.
As soon as the story published, the Corps recruited another company to fill the security void. The new company, Doyon, hired HWA's former employees.
Similar interim contracts for security companies were established through the Federal Protection Service for other federal facilities in the Northwest that had been under HWA protection.
But all of those employees were owed back pay.
Meanwhile, HWA's contract with the Washington State Liquor Control Board to provide security at about 25 liquor stores also is being questioned.
The Liquor Control Board has been directed not to issue ongoing payments on a one-year, $409,000 security contract with HWA, but a spokesman for the Department of Employment Security would not say why.
Gerry Adams, a retired private investigator who did part-time work for HWA, told the Herald he continues to provide security at a state liquor store, but for a new company.
That company, TRO in Seattle, was formed within days after HWA lost its federal contracts. TRO's owner is the son of HWA's owners.
Knowing that the state has placed a hold on payments to HWA, Adams said he's anxious to see what happens on his next payday.
-- John Trumbo: 582-1529; jtrumbo@tricityherald.com
