Suit claims workers are owed back pay and benefits, alleges labor law violation

By VINAYA SAKSENA

PROVIDENCE – A group representing former employees of a shuttered East Providence manufacturing facility rallied in front of the federal courthouse at Kennedy Plaza on Thursday afternoon, announcing that a lawsuit had been filed against their former employer for what they said were violations of federal labor laws.

The workers had been employed by the Colibri Group, which manufactured jewelry, lighters and other items in an East Providence facility until closing the facility earlier this year. Since then, employees and various political action groups supporting their cause have held a series of public demonstrations, in which they have demanded that Colibri’s owners, New York-based Founders Equity, pay workers two months of pay and benefits they believe they are legally entitled to.
The workers and their supporters also allege that Founders Equity and Phoenix Management — a company that had been hired by Founders to run the company’s daily operations — violated the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act by failing to provide employees with 60 days’ notice of the East Providence facility’s closing. Former Colibri workers previously told The Times that they had showed up for work on day and unexpectedly found the facility locked, with a note on the door indicating that the facility had been closed.
At Thursday’s rally, former Colibri workers reiterated their grievances against the company, with the citing of each of the company’s alleged wrongdoings being greeted with a chant of ‘that ain’t right!” Shirley Samyoa, a Colibri stockroom supervisor of 27 years, said that since previous efforts by employees to get the attention of Founders Equity — including a trip to New York where the company is headquartered — did not meet with success, a decision had been made to take the company on legally. The goal of the group’s efforts, she said, was not only to ensure that displaced Colibri workers got what they deserved, but to ensure that no other workers would have to go through what they did.
“I don’t ever want to turn on the TV and see the same thing happening to other workers,” Samyoa said, adding that the group ultimately wanted to return to work, not receive handouts. “I want to work. I’m not too old to be a factory worker.”
David Correia, a press operator of seven years, agreed, adding that the group would be pushing for a localized version of the WARN Act to be enacted by the Rhode Island General Assembly. He said that the workers wanted Rhode Island lawmakers to do what they could to bring jobs to the state, but also wanted employers to operate at a certain minimum standard.
“We don’t need any lawbreaking companies,” Correia said. “The politicians need to bring good jobs here, not just any jobs where companies break the rules.”
The demonstration’s organizers said that WARN Act enforcement at the local level seemed weak, and that passing complimentary legislation at the state level would make enforcement of the federal law easier. Rachel Miller, Director of Rhode Island Jobs with Justice, said that several states had already enacted such legislation.
The Colibri workers’ suit, meanwhile, is being handled by Attorney Marc Gursky of North Kingstown, who said he had handled several other labor-related legal matters in recent years. According to Gursky, the lawsuit seeks approximately $45 million in wages and benefits from Colibri’s owners, with Colibri, Founders Equity and Phoenix Management named as defendants.
A representative of Founders Equity could not be reached for comment in time for this story.
Gursky said he would not be compensated for his work on the lawsuit unless it was successful. If it succeeds, he said, his compensation would come from costs paid by the defendants.
“This is about (workers) getting paid,” Gursky said. “It’s not about seeing how much money lawyers can make.”
In March, several protesters were arrested by the East Providence Police Department during a demonstration held outside the company’s former Fairmont Avenue location, where  protesters had attempted to block vehicles from entering the property for an auction of the company’s former assets, held as a result of the company entering receivership. Approximately a week later, it was announced that Alliance Time had bought three of the company’s former brands: Colibri, Seth Thomas and Linden Clocks, with the company saying it would consider hiring some of the displaced Colibri workers.