Transprint Pay Drought Drags On
Garst Investigating Possible Criminal Case Over Six-Week Ordeal
Posted: January 5, 2013
HARRISONBURG — Transprint USA employees went a sixth week without a paycheck Friday, as the company’s top executives chauffeured investors from Spain around the facility in hopes of finding a buyer, sources say.
“If I’m going to donate my time, I’m going to go to the Boys and Girls Club,” employee Robbie Roadcap said. “It just really stinks.”
Meanwhile, Rockingham County Commonwealth’s Attorney Marsha Garst said she has started to interview people to determine if the situation warrants criminal charges.
In mid-December, many of the California-based company’s roughly 75 local employees held a two-day boycott, claiming they had not received paychecks since Thanksgiving, when they were paid a third of their usual earnings.
Transprint, at 1000 Pleasant Valley Road, prints heat transfer paper for the textile industry — printing designs on paper with special dyes, and having customers convert the work to fabric.
Since the boycott, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has opened an investigation.
According to sources, the department appointed Roanoke attorney Melvin Williams to the case. Williams met with employees and an aide for Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, Thursday night, sources said.
Williams and Obenshain could not be reached for comment late Friday afternoon.
On Friday, Transprint CEO Larry Levy and Vice President Bonnie Julian brought investors to the Harrisonburg plant, their first local appearance since paychecks were withheld, Roadcap said.
Levy did not return a message on his cellphone, and he and Julian have not responded to numerous messages since the boycott, which ended Dec. 14. They work in a corporate office in New York City.
Employees have continued to work without pay since then in hopes of receiving compensation for their time once Transprint can pay them. They cannot quit and collect unemployment, at least not without fighting for benefits.
According to the Virginia Employment Commission, a person must be separated from their employer “through no fault of their own” to collect benefits. If someone does quit, a hearing official determines if his or her circumstance qualifies for aid.
“The employer can screw the employee and get away with it,” said Roadcap, 34, a 14-year employee of Transprint. “People shouldn’t be allowed to do that to you.”
Contact Preston Knight at 574-6272 or pknight@dnronline.com
“If I’m going to donate my time, I’m going to go to the Boys and Girls Club,” employee Robbie Roadcap said. “It just really stinks.”
Meanwhile, Rockingham County Commonwealth’s Attorney Marsha Garst said she has started to interview people to determine if the situation warrants criminal charges.
In mid-December, many of the California-based company’s roughly 75 local employees held a two-day boycott, claiming they had not received paychecks since Thanksgiving, when they were paid a third of their usual earnings.
Transprint, at 1000 Pleasant Valley Road, prints heat transfer paper for the textile industry — printing designs on paper with special dyes, and having customers convert the work to fabric.
Since the boycott, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has opened an investigation.
According to sources, the department appointed Roanoke attorney Melvin Williams to the case. Williams met with employees and an aide for Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, Thursday night, sources said.
Williams and Obenshain could not be reached for comment late Friday afternoon.
On Friday, Transprint CEO Larry Levy and Vice President Bonnie Julian brought investors to the Harrisonburg plant, their first local appearance since paychecks were withheld, Roadcap said.
Levy did not return a message on his cellphone, and he and Julian have not responded to numerous messages since the boycott, which ended Dec. 14. They work in a corporate office in New York City.
Employees have continued to work without pay since then in hopes of receiving compensation for their time once Transprint can pay them. They cannot quit and collect unemployment, at least not without fighting for benefits.
According to the Virginia Employment Commission, a person must be separated from their employer “through no fault of their own” to collect benefits. If someone does quit, a hearing official determines if his or her circumstance qualifies for aid.
“The employer can screw the employee and get away with it,” said Roadcap, 34, a 14-year employee of Transprint. “People shouldn’t be allowed to do that to you.”
Contact Preston Knight at 574-6272 or pknight@dnronline.com