Labor Pains

Union Protesters Elicit Varied Reactions in Lower Manhattan

Members of the New York City District Council of Carpenters (NYDC) protesting across from the 

Holiday Inn construction site at 99 Washington Street where only non-union workers have been hired.

Lower Manhattan lives with the sights and sounds of construction on a daily basis, but the conditions under which its construction workers labor are largely hidden from outside eyes. Two ongoing protests drew attention this week to a central factor in any construction project: hiring practices.

As construction on the future Holiday Inn at 99 Washington Street ramped up in January, the New York City District Council of Carpenters (NYDC) began regularly picketing Casino Concrete, a subcontractor on Cava Construction's hotel project, for using non-union labor. The NYDC has been demonstrating on-and-off for the last year, because they say the project's developer, Sam Chang, reneged on a project labor agreement that stipulates that only union laborers would be used. Casino Concrete did not respond to requests for comment.

NYDC protesters on Washington Street

The union's criticism of Mr. Chang is supported by a letter, dated September 13, 2011, from City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Transportation Committee Chair James Vacca to the City's Department of Buildings and Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The letter describes Sam Chang as "the quintessential example of a 'bad actor' who should not be allowed to operate in our City." Additionally, the authors noted that "Sam Chang has violated New York's building codes over a thousand times, at more than fifty work sites -- mostly hotel projects. He has put the lives of thousands of workers at risk and accrued more than $1.6 million in fines," most of which the authors assert he has failed to pay.

Ruben Colon, a representative for the union, described the impact of Mr. Chang's hiring practices: "The workers are not the issue, but the problem is with the construction company that hires only non-union members. These workers are mainly from minority populations, many of them Hispanic. Hiring non-union laborers often times leads to discrimination against minority populations, poor working conditions and unsafe labor practices," said Mr. Colon, who that morning had called in an Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSHA) violation against the construction site. The OSHA Complaint involved a worker not being tied off properly using a lanyard, and therefore, being at risk of a fall.

Non-union carpenters also earn significantly less per hour than union carpenters, said Mr. Colon. 

"A union carpenter makes a well-deserved $46.15 per hour in wages and another $38.50 in benefits. The average non-union carpenter makes anywhere between $12 and $25 an hour with partial benefits, if at all," he explained.

Statistics on the NYDC's recent class of apprentices enrolled at the union's Labor Technical College indicate that the organization has been making headway in terms of hiring minorities. Of 1,061 new apprentices inducted into the NYDC in 2010, 623 were persons of color, and 128 were female. In Mr. Colon's Area Standards Department, out of 10 Organizers, 4 are racial minorities, and one is female. Throughout the five boroughs, racial minorities comprise 30 percent of the NYDC's membership.

The United Hispanic Construction Workers (UHCW) protesting outside the offices of 

Hunter Roberts Construction Group

Just a few blocks from the protest at 99 Washington Street, another group of construction workers has been protesting in all weather outside Two World Financial Center for the last two weeks. Their concern is not about union status, but about the right to work itself. The United Hispanic Construction Workers (UHCW), a civil rights coalition of union and non-union members, has been holding a morning vigil outside the offices of Hunter Roberts Construction Group to protest its hiring practices. UHCW, a 20 year-old non-profit coalition of construction workers headquartered in the South Bronx, asserts that Hunter Roberts discriminates against hiring local construction workers from minority populations -- largely Hispanic and African-American men and women from economically depressed communities. The UHCW could offer no quantitative data to support this allegation, instead basing the claim on collective eyewitness accounts and the hiring history of Hunter Roberts.

"Hunter Roberts has projects going on in our communities. We're here because we want a chance to work in the communities where we live," said Daryll Jennings, UHCW's field director at the protest. The civil rights coalition helps its members find employment by shuttling them to job sites throughout the Bronx and Manhattan every weekday. The Coalition's members include laborers, welders, plumbers, masons, carpenters, engineers and electricians. Hunter Roberts did not respond to requests for comment.

Local response to the protest has been mixed, depending on the location. Outside Two World Financial Center, several residents voiced interest in the workers' reason for being there as they silently held up signs. At 99 Washington Street, however, the Merchant Café has been adversely affected by the whistle blowing typically associated with union protests. "We support the right of the union to protest," said Ali Webster, the restaurant's general manager, who has achieved some temporary relief by speaking to a union supervisor onsite, but finds that she has to begin her efforts anew each day. "But we lose seating during lunchtime every day because of the noise. When they all start blowing their whistles, it's unbearable. And that's our main business hour!"


text and photos by Dianne Renzulli