NEW HAVEN — The package about 17 union members and highway rest stop workers had for Applegreen Corp. Northeast CEO Trevor Moore wasn't exactly a typical holiday gift.
It was a bag full of "cash" — more than $1 million in play money, to be exact — representing an amount the union said Applegreen, an Irish company, improperly has withheld from about 175 Dunkin' workers at the 23 plazas along Interstate 95, Interstate 495 and Route 15 in Connecticut.
Members of Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ, and workers from other highway rest stop businesses that SEIU is trying to unionize, showed up at Applegreen's local office at 195 Church St. on the Green to make a point.,
They said Applegreen, which now owns all the Dunkin' in the 23 service plazas, is underpaying Dunkin' employees, paying them just $14-$15 rather than the state-mandated "standard wage," which should be at least $18.21.
The so-called standard wage basically is a bump-up of about $3 per hour for state vendors that are not on public employee contracts, to approximate the value of benefits. Because the state owns the service plazas, the union (which does not represent the Dunkin' workers) argues that the standard wage applies. The companies say it doesn’t apply because they’re under contract with an outside firm, not the state.
Only the McDonald's franchisees pay the "standard wage," which applies to businesses on state property, union representatives said.
"They should be making at least $18.21,...
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