Labor Ready Corrects Union Misstatements
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Labor Ready Corrects Union Misstatements
TACOMA, Wash., Dec. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Labor Ready, Inc. (NYSE: LRW)
President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Sambataro stated today that the
Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO's recent press release
contained unfounded insinuations and misrepresented the facts. Sambataro made
these corrections:
-- Most Labor Ready temporary employees either have their own vehicles,
use public transportation or carpool with co-workers. A small
percentage use company-provided transportation to get to and from job
sites. Although not material enough to be reported separately, the net
cost to the company of providing this service is included in the
company's financial statements.
-- Like many companies, Labor Ready has a number of wholly owned
subsidiaries, all of which are included and consolidated in the
company's audited financial statements, in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles.
-- The circumstances of Glenn Welstad's unauthorized loan of $3.5 million
were addressed in a press release dated July 3, 2000.
-- As a convenience, Labor Ready offers workers the option of receiving
their net pay in cash through the company's patented cash dispensing
machines (CDMs), which provide control mechanisms for avoiding fraud
and other abuse. CDM revenue and expenses are immaterial for financial
reporting purposes.
-- The Washington and Ohio workers compensation audits were addressed in a
press release issued by Labor Ready on June 23, 2001. The company has
accrued all workers compensation-related liabilities appropriate under
applicable accounting standards.
-- Labor Ready continues to report same-store sales results for its
branches. Labor Ready has historically not reported numbers of
man-hours billed. If and when such a statistic would provide material
and meaningful benefit, the company will disclose it as appropriate.
"We have complete confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our
financial statements and disclosures, as does our outside auditing firm,
Arthur Andersen, which issued unqualified opinions on our behalf," said
Labor Ready Board Member and Audit Committee Chairman Carl W. Schafer.
Added Sambataro, "Labor Ready is proud to put nearly 700,000 people to
work annually. In these difficult economic times, our mission of putting
people to work becomes more important than ever. We are able to provide
thousands of jobs every day, jobs which help men and women make it through a
layoff or transition to full-time employment."
Operating in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, and the United Kingdom,
Labor Ready is the nation's leading provider of temporary manual labor to the
light industrial and small business markets.
CONTACT: Steve Cooper, Chief Financial Officer, +1-253-680-8213, or
Stacey Burke, Director of Public Relations, +1-253-680-8291, both of
Labor Ready, Inc.
