MASSACHUSETTS CONSTRUCTION is once again taking off to pre-pandemic levels. This is great news for working families and for the economy, since responsible development — when conducted with proper labor protections — is a key producer of economic opportunity and of great, family-sustaining careers for residents of every neighborhood. Unfortunately, some construction industry companies continue to take advantage of workers and taxpayers, undermining some of the gains that Greater Boston communities and workers would otherwise be experiencing.

So-called “staffing agencies” such as the outfit known as TrueBlue often act as labor brokers in the non-union construction industry, claiming to provide on-demand workers to keep pace with the building boom.

You may not have heard of TrueBlue, the parent company of PeopleReady, but they claim to have put nearly half a million people to work in 2020. Workers go to them looking to earn fair pay for a fair day’s work, but that’s hardly guaranteed.

Unscrupulous contractors use labor brokers like TrueBlue to exploit loopholes in the law. By misclassifying workers as independent contractors, for example, they’re able to dodge payroll taxes and they avoid paying adequate workers’ compensation insurance.

The costs of misclassification, wage theft, and tax fraud were detailed in a recent report by the UMASS Amherst Labor Center, which looked at the impact of labor brokers in non-union residential construction, though they’re certainly active in commercial construction as well.

There’s a lot at stake for construction workers who are misclassified as independent contractors on non-union construction projects. Labor brokers often don’t guarantee fair wages, overtime, or benefits such as workers’ compensation. Over 22,000 workers in Massachusetts are believed to be impacted by this wage and tax fraud.

Beyond the financial impact, a worker’s very life and limb can be at serious risk at job sites that cut corners on safety. A 2019 US Bureau of Labor Statistics Massachusetts case study found that of the 169 deaths between 2011 and 2013, non-union workers were four times more likely to be fatally injured than their union counterparts. For those in the construction and excavation industry, the disparities were even starker — 34 non-union workers died, while there were four union worker fatalities during the same time period. Other workplace injuries have a similar imbalance when contrasting union and non-union job sites.

The reason is simple — non-union companies too often fail to provide thorough safety protocols on their worksites and for their employees. TrueBlue has over $14 million in employment and safety violation penalties, according to watchdog GoodJobsFirst. TrueBlue subsidiary PeopleReady, one of the largest temporary staffing agencies in the United States, was cited by OSHA for serious violations, including not providing “a place of employment free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death.”

As if the dangers perpetuated by labor brokers aren’t bad enough, workers can’t count on the same quality wages and benefits either. Unlike union contractors, staffing agencies don’t provide contractually guaranteed wages, benefits, or pay equity. That means women and people of color have to work more for less, and despite doing dangerous work, workers can’t count on great health coverage or workers’ compensation in the event of an accident. That pushes the costs to us, the taxpayers, and it leaves families in cruel and dire situations.

Staffing agencies also have a history of dodging unemployment insurance and committing wage theft. Contractors shortchanged workers by not paying between $19.3 million to $40.8 million in required overtime in 2019 alone. The costs of unemployment insurance fall on taxpayers and law-abiding companies, while the wage theft and failure to pay overtime costs workers, leaving them empty-handed for hours and hours of hard work.

Labor brokers have transitioned into a strictly “cash-only” model of payment, allowing them to both avoid tracking the money flowing and to blatantly take advantage of undocumented workers. It’s easy then for brokers to pay workers less than they earned, or to not pay them at all. This exploitative system costs workers every day in Massachusetts — and if a worker dares to question safety or demand their hard-earned wages, they won’t be called back the next day.

Misclassification is a scourge on workers and taxpayers. According to a recent report from the University of Massachusetts Amherst Labor Center, misclassification of construction industry workers led to a $24.5 million to $40.6 million shortfall in the Commonwealth’s unemployment insurance fund in 2019.  When contractors evade their responsibility for paying workers’ compensation insurance premiums, workers and our communities suffer from lost revenue. Who picks up the tab for these bad actors? Short-changed workers, taxpayers, and responsible companies do.

It’s time for the state to take action. The Legislature and Attorney General Maura Healey must crack down on TrueBlue and other bad actors to ensure that all workers and taxpayers are protected. While we applaud Attorney General Healey’s citations of three construction companies in October 2020, as well as past efforts, not nearly enough action has been taken to improve the situation. It’s past time to close existing loopholes and ensure labor brokers play by the same rules as the rest of the industry.

For our communities and workers, it’s time for Massachusetts regulators and lawmakers to crack down, take these evasions seriously, and finally pass legislation taking action against the labor agencies that are hurting workers and taxpayers.

Bob Butler is president of the SMART (Sheet Metal Air Rail Transportation) Northeast Regional Council.