By Tom Nash The Massachusetts Attorney General's office said last week that Somerville's trash contractor was in violation of state wage and hour laws even as it was up for a contract extension before the Board of Aldermen in November. FW Russell, the trash removal and recycling contractor recently given a one-year contract extension and new five-year contract valued at $10,923,324.22 by the Board of Aldermen, was accused of wage violations two years ago during a labor dispute.

The Attorney General's office said in a statement that Russell and its affiliates will pay $70,000 to 352 current and former employees in addition to a $20,000 penalty for failing to pay overtime and other violations.

Teamsters Local 25 was at the center of a labor dispute in late 2007 when they began picketing outside of the company's Somerville yard, claiming some of its employees had asked the company's management about unionizing but were rebuffed.

The protest turned violent in January 2008, when union members locked Russell's gate and a small-scale riot ensued.

"Justice has prevailed; today should serve as a wake-up call to Russell Disposal that it is time once and for all to clean up its act," Local 25 President Sean M. O'Brien said in a statement. "Their employees, and the public they serve, deserve no less."

Investigators also found Russell failed to report accurate working hours in company books and on employees' pay stubs. As a result of the findings, Russell will also be subject to a "monitoring and compliance plan" for two years.

The company's management did not return a call seeking comment.

Asked why the investigation took two years to complete, Attorney General's Office Deputy Press Secretary Harry Pierre said investigators "wanted … to be diligent and thorough, so we did not speed up the process." He said the violations were based on records from 2004 through 2009.

Pierre refused to comment on whether the investigators were aware that the contract was up for renewal in November, when Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz raised concerns about the company's labor rights record as the Board of Aldermen was evaluating bids.

"Somerville should only do business with companies that respect their workers," Gewirtz said after learning of the Attorney General's findings. "We have a situation here where we're doing business with a company in clear violation of that standard."

Gewirtz said she will ask about the city's options for exiting the contract at Thursday's Board of Aldermen meeting, and again ask that the company's owner, Charles Carneglia, not be renewed as a city constable.

During the labor dispute two years ago, Carneglia was seen dancing in a sombrero, a move Gewirtz called "reprehensible."