500 Workers Protesting in Brownsville

Group claims company hasn't paid them

BROWNSVILLE - Some 500 employees of a Brownsville company were protesting. They say they're not getting paid.

The company, One Force, was awarded contracts to clean up debris from Hurricane Dolly. They hired folks from all over the Valley to drive to Brownsville, then work long hours doing manual labor.

Now the workers are upset, because they haven't gotten paid in two weeks. One upset employee says, "We've been working two weeks at the island. They said the would bring our checks to us. But I don't know if it's a scam or something. All we want is to get paid."

Those who have gotten a check say it's not enough. One woman got less than $100 for working more than 70 hours. That's less than two dollars an hour.

A representative for the company says everyone will get their pay checks soon. He said, "I had computer problems, you know. And they called me and said, 'Hey everyone wants their check.' There is nothing I can do about it right now. So obviously when I get back, I'm going to get everyone lined up by noon."

NEWSCHANNEL 5 will make sure to follow this story to see if the employees get paid.