Asbestos Workers Demand Unpaid Wages at Maryland Masonic Homes

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

Employees of asbestos remediation firm Asbestos Specialists Inc. (ASI) on Tuesday protested at the front gate of the Maryland Masonic Homes – where ASI is doing work -- to demand their employer return nearly a million dollars in wrongfully withheld back wages. The Department of Labor has made an initial finding that the ASI employees are owed approximately $853,000, and ordered the company to refund worker wages, but ASI “continues to deny workers their rightful wages,” according to the Mid-Atlantic Laborers, which has been supporting the workers. "This asbestos company has been stealing from us and poisoning the community,” said Erick Mancilla, an ASI employee. “Then at the end of the day they act as though they are doing us a favor. We're just hardworking people trying to feed our families.” Photo courtesy Nicole Duarte