Chair of Providence School Board “Deeply Disturbed” by Record of Company Winning $70M Contract

Chair of Providence School Board “Deeply Disturbed” by Record of Company Winning $70M Contract

The chair of the Providence School Board, Erlin Rogel, told GoLocal that the record of ABM Industries is “deeply disturbing” after a GoLocal Investigation found that the company had been fined more than 100 times and paid penalties totaling in the hundreds of millions of dollars primarily for wage theft issues and safety violations.

“I am deeply disturbed, and it’s a point of conversation with the office,” said Rogel after reading the GoLocal report.

When asked if the Providence School Department staff had briefed the school board on ABM’s track record, Rogel said they did not.

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And, when asked if he thought the School Department staff had looked into ABM’s record as part of the review process for the $70 plus million contract, Rogel said he did not know.

“We need to get an understanding of these issues,” said Rogel.

“First and foremost, we need to be sure there are protections for workers,” said Rogel.

Rogel took over the chair of the Providence School Board in February and, at the time, said, “It is a privilege to have been elected President of this dedicated group of public servants. I’m humbled by the vote of confidence from my colleagues and look forward to working alongside them, the Providence Public School Department, and the RI Department of Education to create a more equitable and effective Providence Public School District. Our families and students deserve nothing less.”

Presently, the state of Rhode Island is in control of the Providence Schools, but the School Board oversees the bidding and awarding to all contracts.

ABM was awarded the new contract approximately two months ago, winning the bid over long-time contractors Aramark and another bidder UG2. 

 

History of Multi-Million Settlements and No Admission of Guilt

As GoLocal reported, ABM reached an agreement just over a year ago to pay $140 million to thousands of its California workers to resolve a 15-year-long consolidated case over ABM's timekeeping system, which employees alleged caused them to be underpaid. As part of the settlement, the company admitted no wrongdoing.

A Frontline special broadcast on PBS found that ABM was one of the violators of workers' rights.

The one-hour segment was titled “Rape on the Night Shift” and chronicled the cases of abuse of Latina workers and cited examples of sexual assaults. As Frontline reported, the company agreed to settlements with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. ABM paid millions in penalties, but again refused to admit guilt.

GoLocal reached out to the company and multiple employees to seek comment on the legal issues. None responded to requests for comment.