MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Post-Hurricane Irma debris cleanup has created work for contractors and crews, but some workers complain their paycheck are coming up short.
Jacob Katel, who lives in southwest Miami-Dade County, answered a Craiglist ad for field debris monitors after the storm passed.
The contact on the ad was Aerotek, a company contracted to do hiring for debris clearing company Tetratech.
The job posting advertised $12 an hour and overtime, with up to 80 hours of work a week, and no experience needed.
Katel's said that after seven days of work, he heard his colleagues were shorted in pay.
"The project manager said, 'Do not address me with this problem. It's not my problem at all. As a matter of fact, I don't care,'" Katel said.
On Tuesday afternoon, a two-person field debris monitor team followed a tree-trimming crew from Virginia contracted to clear hanging and leaning tree limbs in Coconut Grove.
The monitors measured and documented the limbs, ensuring the work was done to specifications and would be reimbursable by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
By Tuesday evening, Aerotek had not yet returned phone calls questioning whether the pay shortage was a paperwork mistake or intentional.
Katel said he and others may stop working if they are not paid in full.