Building and Construction Trades Unions
File Lawsuit Against Labor Ready, Inc
For Delaying Annual Meeting
Seattle, WA - Attorneys for the Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD), AFL-CIO, have filed a lawsuit in Seattle's State District Court to compel on of the nation's largest temporary employment agencies, Labor ready, Inc. (NYSE: LRW) to convene an annual shareholders meeting. Washington State law requires that companies hold their annual shareholders meetings within six months of the end of the previous fiscal year. The fiscal year ended on December 31, 1999, and labor Ready should have held its meeting by June 30th.
The lawsuit was filed after a written complain resulted in an unsatisfactory response from labor Ready according to BCTD attorneys, Richard G. McCracken and Steven Toll.
"Management will not commit to a date for the annual meeting. We are left with no choice but to purse legal action," said Richard G.. McCracken.
As a shareholder, the Building and construction Trades Department wants an opportunity to question Labor Ready company managers about the recent resignation of the company's CEO; how the company intends to reverse the sharp decline in its profitability; the company's recent revelations to a small group of investors that its' stores three years and older have experienced declining revenues (the subject of a pending SEC complaint because of its apparent contradiction of previous, more optimistic reports); and a lawsuit that charges the company with illegal withdrawing funds from its workers pay.
Labor Ready, Inc. is one of the largest and fastest growing temporary employment agencies in the country. It operates 839 offices in 49 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
The Building and Construction Trades Department is the umbrella organization for the 15 International building and construction trades unions in the United States and Canada, representing 1.5 million construction workers. In April the unions launched the "Temp Workers Deserve a Permanent Voice@Work" campaign to shed light on the abuse of temporary agency workers in the construction industry.
August 31, 2000 Press Release from the Building and Construction Trades Department.
For more information contact Lindsay Barenz at (202) 842-3100