Assemblywoman Joan Millman addresses workers at a rally last week at the Sheraton hotel being built by non-union hands. YouTube video:

sorry this story is a bit old , but i just got wind of the video via YouTube

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Look for union label: Pols rally against Downtown hotel project

June 16, 2007 By Chris Cascarano for The Brooklyn Paper

Protesters and elected officials rallied last Friday in Downtown to decry the use of non-union labor in the construction of twin hotels.

“We don’t need to rezone Brooklyn for high-rises if their builders are going to be given substandard benefits, wages, and safety conditions,” said state Sen. Marty Connor (D–Brooklyn Heights) to hundreds of union workers at the corner of Duffield and Willoughby streets.

Laborers at the dusty, boarded-off patch of land, where the $48-million, twin 33-story hotels are being built by workers earning lower wages and fewer benefits than their unionized counterparts.

But it wasn’t all just dollars and cents to the protesters, who rattled off job-safety statistics like a baseball fan talking about A-Rod.

One cited this chilling stat from the federal Department of Labor: Of 29 construction workers who died on the job in New York City in 2006, 24 were non-unionized workers.

Unions hold work-safety classes every quarter — and many believe that such instruction prevents deaths and injuries.

“Safety is the first thing they teach you,” said Walter Cole, a four-year member of the Carpenters Union. “And I’ve worked with non-union guys who never took safety training, and they were dangerous.”

And if a work site is, indeed, dangerous, non-union workers — many of whom are illegal or undocumented immigrants — have little recourse, said Jonathan Bennett of the New York Committee of Occupational Safety and Health.

“The law says you can’t discipline workers for complaining about safety issues, but there is no mechanism to enforce that,” said Bennett.

 

 

Assemblyman Peter Abbate focused not on safety, but on the supposedly substandard work being done by non-union workers.

“In a couple of years the floors in the Sheraton will be warped and when you turn on the faucet, the lights will go on,” said Abbate (D–Dyker Heights). Laughter among protesters ensued.

At the core of the crowd’s fury was John Lam, the developer of the project, which calls for a Sheraton and one of Starwood’s trendy “Aloft” hotels at the corner of Duffield and Willoughby streets. Together, the hotels will have 500 rooms.

Lam was not at the rally — where one protester clutched a sign reading, “John Lam = Slave Driver” — and did not return calls for comment.

Despite all the much-discussed benefits of union membership, there are several reasons why many construction workers remain non-unionized.

For one, it’s hard to get into a union. *

“They don’t just let anybody in, and sometimes it takes years,” said construction worker at the Sheraton site who did not want his name published.

The man also complained about union dues. “They shouldn’t take [dues] out of your salary — that’s extortion,” he added.

He also objected to the protesters contention that non-union workers do shoddy work.

“They think that because we are black or foreign that we don’t have degrees or training,” he said.

The use of non-union labor is not limited to the Sheraton/Starwood projects. Non-union workers are building virtually all of the luxury towers that are transforming Downtown Brooklyn into a mini-Manhattan — where the use of non-union labor in big projects is virtually unheard of, thanks to union clout.

But one expert said that as more attention is paid to Brooklyn, that will change.

“If you can justify $700,000 for one-bedrooms condos, you can justify fair wages for your employees building it,” said John Young, a lawyer specializing in worker’s rights specialist.

 

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*ommited information , reason #1 , there is reason to believe that 90% + of the workers are undocumented , #2 there is reason to believe that the contractors have used Anti-Union campaigns and personnel to disuade the wokers whenever an organizing campaign ensues , we stood in support of their decision to become union , but heres what happened on one of their jobsites ....

About 2 months ago there was a NLRB vote on another of this developers jobsites (another Sheraton) , think of this , the cards were signed by the workers , we had a rally in favor of the workers freedom to join the unions . These workers were mainly the ones who were placing rebar and working with the concrete ..

Now let me rephrase that , the workers decided to become union by signing NLRB representation cards , on or around a month and a half later , we stood next to them before the vote .

You following so far .....

...when the vote was counted , the employees voted approx. 124-6 to remain Non-Union .

What happened ? threats of deportations , firings ? videos of the Smithfield immigration raids ?

Oh and believe me , their jobs are very unsafe , many times at rallies in front of their buildings stuff gets thrown down at the ralliers from the disgruntled workers who have no safety protection . Stuff like bolts , rebar , etc . , also noticed was picking loads with the crane without the proper rigging , directly above vehicles and pedestrians .

The General Contractor is Flintlock Construction , who's website boasts "Another Flintlock First -- THE First Open Shop Tower Crane in New York being used at our project on 40th St..." , by open shop , they mean Non-Union , what they fail to mention is the job was shut down for over a week because of that tower crane not having an operator with the correct liscencing .

Non-Union - cutting corners every chance they get , and the real sufferers are their workers , the Union contractors (who have to try to compete) , the public who walk under their unsafe projects and risk injury or death from above , and my fellow union workers , who go to apprenticeship classes for up to 7 years for certain trades , fight for safety on the jobsites and actuall know their crafts and pay taxes here in the United States , maybe our friendly Non-Union worker from the article above would say that was extortion also .

 

In Solidarity ,

Joe

 

 

Related links:
http://unionreview.com/long-island-ny-contractor-evades-taxes-illegal-labor
http://unionreview.com/selling-out-workers-safety-27-year-old-ecuadoran-carpente...