Do you know who your workers are?

August 3, 2006 by SwizStick  
Filed under 3PL, Air Cargo, Airlines, Contract Logistics, Education, Integrators

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents said they homed in on Garcia Labor because of a contract it had with ABX Air, a cargo airline that flies express shipments for DHL, with a fleet of 112 airplanes based at its privately owned airport in Wilmington, Ohio. From 1999 to 2005, the indictment charges, Garcia Labor sent more than 1,000 illegal immigrants, mostly Mexicans, to sort freight at ABX Air.
Companies like Garcia Labor have sprung up across the United States. Instead of hiring immigrants directly, employers create a buffer by contracting with a labor company, which is responsible for verifying its workers’ documents. Employers can argue that that they were not aware that workers provided by a contractor did not have valid papers.

According to the indictment, in a single month, May 2003, the Social Security Administration informed Mr. Garcia that 186 of his employees who were working at ABX Air had invalid Social Security numbers. Garcia Labor continued to send laborers to ABX Air even after they answered no when asked on applications if they were eligible to work in the United States, the indictment says.

“This was a huge, gaping vulnerability,” Mr. Moskowitz said. “You had people who you really don’t know who they are having access to the underbelly of an airplane.”

This is a potentially explosive article for the industry in general. This article did not come from some run-of-the-mill local newspaper, it is from the New York-freakin’-Times and it touches on a number of hot topics in the U.S. today – illegal immigration, cargo security, etc. – so I expect this case and the article to get some serious publicity. The fact that the case involved high profile names such as DHL and ABX Air as well as the air cargo industry in general is bound to induce lawmakers and the public to take a closer look at cargo companies, particularly those with a history of employing temporary or contract labor.

A previous company I worked for used a local labor company to unload or breakdown large shipments that would arrive into our warehouse. They signed an agreement with the local labor company and once a week when the large shipments came in the labor company would arrange to have 2-4 workers, depending on the job, to break down the shipments. Were some of the workers they arranged for us illegal? I think it is very likely, but as this article points out companies can claim that the ultimate responsibility for ensuring if the workers were legal or not rested with the labor company, not their clients, although I highly doubt the company I worked for thoroughly vetted the labor company. Perhaps having company names dragged through the mud in a major nationwide news article such as this will give companies incentive to take a hard look at the labor companies they contract with and also the duties and responsibilities they give to those temporary labors.

Freight forwarders, air cargo operators, consolidators, and any 3PL or freight company that deals with air cargo should take special care to ensure that they have a written contract or agreement from their labor providers that clearly confirms that the laborers they provide to their clients have the legal right to work in the U.S. Consult with legal counsel to draft specific language into contracts with labor companies that force the labor companies to affirm in specific language their commitment in ensuring that all labor supplied is legal and that the responsibility for ensuring the legality of contracted labor rests on them and not their clients. Make it loud and clear that you will not tolerate the supply of illegal labor. If the labor company you are currently using or planning on using balks at providing such a commitment then you should immediately cut ties with the company and refuse to do business with them. You can not afford to put your company in the crosshairs when it comes to these issues. Having a strong legal standing will protect your company in case of an incident and also ensure that the companies you are dealing with are reputable labor companies. Also look at where and how you place contract labor. Are they supervised by company personnel or left on their own to do as they please? Do you give them work that involves sensitive functions or areas of the company? Is the work they do somehow involved in cargo security directives or responsibilities? Companies need to be careful that they have proper safeguards and procedures in place to ensure that contract labor is supervised and is never put in a position where they could negatively affect important functions of the company or Homeland Security.

The Department of Homeland Security is cracking down, particularly when it comes to air cargo, which is a charged subject for so many lawmakers and the general public. If you utilize the services of a labor company protect yourself by thoroughly investigating and vetting your providers. Ensure that they are legitimate companies complying with the law. Make sure that you communicate clearly their duties and responsibilities when it comes to supplying legal labor and the ramifications for violating the agreement. Have clear procedures on where and how contract labor is to perform.

3PLs and other cargo service providers all have unique and special responsibilities when it comes to Homeland Security. We should all be taking the necessary steps to protect our country’s borders and cargo. Make it clear to everyone that your company fully complies with the law and expects its service providers and contractors to also comply with the law. It’s not just good business practice, it’s the right thing to do.

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