City: Who's paying Temple replacement (strike breaker) workers' taxes?

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/homepage/20100416_City__Who_s_paying_Temple_replacement_workers__taxes_.html

Posted on Fri, Apr. 16, 2010

City: Who's paying Temple replacement workers' taxes?

By Jane M. Von Bergen Inquirer Staff Writer

The nurses and other health-care professionals brought in to replace Temple University Hospital's striking employees may owe the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in wage or business taxes, City Controller Alan Butkovitz said Thursday.

"The recent job action by local nurses and health-care workers . . . and your decision to employ HealthSource Global Staffing Inc. to hire replacement workers has raised a number of issues over responsibility for paying all appropriate employee and business taxes," Butkovitz said in a letter addressed to hospital chief executive Sandy Gomberg.

Temple had no comment, except to say that it would respond "in a timely and appropriate manner," spokeswoman Rebecca Harmon said.

Someone answering the toll-free number for HealthSource said, "No comment."

In January 2009, California's State Compensation Insurance Fund sued San Francisco-based HealthSource and related entities to collect more than $1 million owed to the fund. That case has since been settled.

HealthSource is not licensed to do business in Philadelphia and "is in violation of city laws," Butkovitz informed Gomberg in the letter.

He estimated that the city would be owed $190,000 for every week that the strike continues, based on reports of a $4.7 million weekly payroll.

About 1,500 of Temple's nurses and allied professionals have been on strike since March 31. The state mediator has asked representatives of Temple management and the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals to meet Friday.

On Thursday, City Council passed a resolution asking both sides to bargain fairly.

FULL story at link.

[nosmokes]

1. When will this whole 'independent contractor' scam be done away with?

those scabs they're hiring are no more contractors than a pfc in the army. they're told when to show up, when to go home, and what to do in the interim. that's an employee if ever there was one.

[Brickbat]

2. Scabs AND 1099ers, a double whammy!