A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Department of the Interior to reveal the number of hours that laborers worked on a contract at a Queens park in response to a Freedom of Information request. Plumbers and Gasfitters Local Union No. 1 filed a Freedom of Information request with Interior for certain payroll and progress reports regarding a contract awarded to Cutting Edge Group LLC. The contract was for work on a Breezy Point water main in Gateway National Recreation Area and the union was concerned whether Cutting Edge, a non-union Lake George company, was properly paying its workers.
Citing an exemption for the disclosure of privileged commercial and financial information, Interior redacted several data fields on the payroll forms, including daily and total hours worked. The released forms did, however, include gross wages and prevailing hourly wages.
