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The National Labor Relations Board has settled a charge against Beltway Cleaning Services, requiring the company to pay nearly $30,000 in total back wages to 17 workers.

The Wednesday settlement comes after Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union issued a complaint that Beltway unlawfully discriminated against workers for supporting a union, of which they were members, at the Lee Plaza building at 8601 Georgia Ave. in Silver Spring.

Beltway is a contractor for Lee Development Group, which is building the Fillmore music venue in downtown Silver Spring that broke ground today. Beltway does not admit to having violated the National Labor Relations Act, according to the settlement agreement.

"It's a victory for the workers and for workers rights," said Jaime Contreras, area director of Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ. "Employers like Beltway try to make a penny off workers' backs and do such things as violating workers' rights when they try to join a union or maintain a union."

Within five days of the approval of the Sept. 1 settlement agreement, Beltway must provide written offers of employment to nine former employees. The company must also provide back pay totaling $29,580.12 to those nine employees and eight other employees, according to the agreement.

Local 32BJ filed the complaint April 26, charging that Beltway Cleaning Services had engaged in unfair labor practices as set forth in the National Labor Relations Act.

Beltway was accused of telling employees that the company does not deal with the union, threatening employees that the company would call the police while employees were engaged in legitimate union activity and avoiding hiring applicants who were members of a labor organization, according to the complaint and notice of hearing.

"We're going to continue fighting until these workers get back to work and get a union contract with decent wages, benefits that they enjoyed before and – most importantly – job security," Contreras said.

Lee Development Group had no comment regarding the settlement because it was between Beltway and the union. Lee Development Group contracted out to Beltway because it offered the lowest bid, the group said.

Beltway could not immediately be reached for comment.

"In this hard economy, low-road employers have been taking advantage of vulnerable workers, and Beltway's mistreatment of cleaners is just outrageous,'' said Maryland State Sen. Jamie Raskin (D-District 20). "Many elected leaders have urged the Lee Development group to use only responsible and law-abiding cleaning contractors. So as we celebrate the groundbreaking of the Fillmore, I feel confident that they will see the importance of this moral and legal imperative.''