Web video of workers starts Dept. of Labor and Industries probe - By Lornet Turnbull, Seattle Times
A YouTube video is playing a key role in state and federal cases against the concrete contractor of a $1 billion upscale urban village going up along Tacoma's Commencement Bay.
On the video, three Spanish-speaking workers — their faces concealed — tell of being given ID badges that belonged to other Latino workers who had been trained on how to protect themselves while working in potentially contaminated soils of the sprawling Point Ruston construction site.
The three on the video say they had not received the training but were told by their supervisors at Rain City Contractors to use the badges anyway.
State and federal labor officials say it is the first time an Internet video has triggered and played such a key role in local investigations into work-site complaints.