Letter to the Editor: Is LA County Metro properly monitoring taxpayers money spent on the Crenshaw/LAX rail project?

Dear 2UrbanGirls,

We are Black construction workers tasked with performing electrical duties for the Crenshaw LAX rail line project and we need your help because Walsh/Shea Corridor Constructors, is not paying our company, Neal Electric.

We are proud that Metro CEO Phillip Washington and Metro Board Chair Mayor James T. Butts Jr. have made it possible for Black workers, some of whom are former felons, to work on such a prestigious project.

Mayor Butts is repeatedly in the news highlighting the advancement of Black workers on the project and now we need your help in ensuring we get properly compensated for our hard work.

Walsh/Shea is the lead construction company who has hired our company, Neal Electric, as subcontractors.  Our livelihood is in jeopardy because they are not paying Neal Electric, who in turn is having difficulty paying us.

We are asking Walsh/Shea adhere to the terms outlined in our contractor, specifically:

1. Adhere to the Compensation & Payment Provisions (“CPPs”) as Section CP-2 D of the CPPS, Walsh/Shea Corridor Constructors, is required to submit to the MTA both conditional and unconditional waivers from its subcontractors for subcontractor work that is included in a progress payment application;
   1. CPPs requires Walsh/Shea to certify under penalty of perjury that payments to subcontractors and suppliers have been or will be made from payments it receives from the MTA for work that was done by a subcontractor and included in a progress payment application;
   2. CCPs require Walsh/Shea to certify under penalty of perjury that any request for progress payments will not include any amounts which Walsh/Shea intends to withhold or retain from a subcontractor or supplier;
   3. CPPSs also clearly state that if Walsh/Shea fails to submit the required waiver and release forms, then any monies due for that work performed by a subcontractor shall not be paid to Walsh/Shea until such time that Walsh/Shea submits the required waiver and release forms to the MTA.

Walsh/Shea began to short pay Neal Electric for work that it had invoiced and Neal began to withhold its unconditional waivers and despite the withholding of the unconditional waivers, to ensure Neal received payment for its work, MTA has continued to pay Walsh/Shea for Neal’s work in contravention of its own requirements.

When questioned about why MTA was still paying Walsh/Shea for our work, according to Ivan Page, Executive Officer, Vendor/Contract Management-Construction, he said “the requirement to receive unconditional waivers from subcontractors was too hard to administer”.

Why is MTA not enforcing the CPPs provisions in their contracts?  The payment issues have gone unchecked for over a year.

Please write about this so it can be brought to both MTA CEO Phil Washington’s and MTA Board Chair Mayor James T. Butts Jr.’s attention for swift resolution.

We are eager to finish the work and gain opportunities on other projects on the pipeline in the city of Inglewood.

Thank you so much,

Black electrical workers