Golden State Fence changes name to "Fence Works" in attempt to rebuild reputaion....

For many years Golden State Fence sidestepped the law in a successful attempt to undersell its competition. Golden State Fence attacked competitors from every angle - Cheaper labor, cheaper materials, and even targeted price dumping in order to put some competition completely out of business. Approximately 225 workers at Golden State Fence were found to be illegal aliens - some of them had already been outed 6 years prior by an immigration audit and Golden State simply shuffled them around. The following legal drama resulted in millions of dollars of fines and a house arrest for owner Mel Kay, the company has now floated several new names. The first attempt was "Fence Specialties" however when looking at the website and the name "www.fencespecialties.com" one may have thought that they were selling special "ties". The name was skirted and according to the latest available news the new name will be "Fence Works". Other indications are that the industrial side of the company will operate under the name "Fence Corp". Whatever the name - Golden State Fence is a proven cheater of the worst kind. For years they cheated the law in order to beat down any competition that dared to abide by the basic labor laws. Now "Fence Works" has the audacity to beg other companies to implement a special citizenry check; here is what they write on their web page:

"Fenceworks encourages other companies in the fencing business to also participate in these government programs as this creates a level playing field in the industry and is the best way to reassure our customers that we are providing dependable service with legally documented workers."

Lets leave it at this - The World Famous Fence Wizard has a good memory, whatever the name, a cheater is a cheater.

Golden State Fence hit hard for Hiring Illegals

Southern California border fence builder pays $5 million fine for hiring illegal immigrants

Saturday, December 23, 2006 by: Jerome Douglas
Printable version Key concepts: border fence, illegal immigration and immigrants.

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(NewsTarget) A fence-building company in Southern California has agreed to pay nearly $5 million in fines for hiring illegal immigrants.

In addition to the fines, two executives from the company may also end up serving jail time. A company called Golden State was found to have hired and retained illegal immigrants for part of a border fence building project -- and the company, when caught, agreed to cleanup its act.

When the company was investigated again in 2004 and 2005 to ensure compliance with its promise, some of the same illegal workers from an immigration check in 1999 were still working for the company. Indeed, it's now estimated that as many as one-third of the company's 750 workers may have been in the country illegally.

Golden State Fence built millions of dollars' worth of fencing around homes, offices, and military bases, and the U.S. Government is now suggesting jail time for Melvin Kay and Michael McLaughlin, the company's president and a manager, respectively, to the tune of six months.

It's a rare twist to see employers of illegal immigrants actually face jail time or even prosecution. The case against Golden State, therefore, is almost a first of its kind as pressure increases from the public to crack down on the hiring of illegal immigrants.

Immigration raids on six meat-packing plants netted almost 1,300 suspected illegal workers recently, but no charges were leveled against Swift, the company that ran the plants. Golden State Fence's attorney does admit that his client broke the law, but he states that the case proves that construction companies need a guest-worker program.

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