"Western Mass. farm cited again for labor violations" by Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff February 19, 2015
A Western Massachusetts farming operation, previously fined for underpaying and mistreating migrant workers, has been cited again by the US Department of Labor for similar wage violations and ordered to pay more than $80,000 in back wages and penalties.
Chang & Sons Enterprises Inc., a Whately farm that grows berries and bean sprouts for wholesalers and retailers across the Northeast, paid workers $5 an hour in cash, below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, Labor Department officials said.
“Chang & Sons Enterprises’ repeated disregard for the law and workers’ rights is inexcusable,” said Carlos Matos, a director in the Boston office of the department
Sidney Chang, owner of the farm, could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Alexander M. Olsen of Wagner Group in Boston, did not respond to a request for comment.
The Chang family has operated farms in Massachusetts for more than 30 years. This is the third time the company has been investigated by the Labor Department for underpaying workers. Investigators first warned Chang of violations in 2009, Matos said. A 2011 inquiry led to a settlement of more than $310,000 in fines and back wages for 14 workers in 2013. In that case, a task force of state and US investigators closed what they described as “farm labor camps” after finding underpaid migrant workers living in squalor in a farmhouse.
Matos said the latest investigation resulted in Chang’s agreement to pay additional fines and back wages to six workers. Matos said each worker will receive about $13,000. The settlement also required Chang & Sons to hire an independent monitor to oversee its operations for three years.
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