New York’s Construction Boom Puts More Women in Hard Hats

By ANNIE CORREAL--NY Times

November 26, 2007--Olga Aguilar walked through a tunnel of scaffolding at 6:30 a.m. on a recent weekday and into the Brompton, a 20-story condominium building going up at 86th Street and Third Avenue in Manhattan.

Passing groups of men in the lobby, she made her way into the basement and through a maze of plywood shacks, and opened the door to one of them in a corner.

Inside, there were none of the Playboy centerfolds that typically line construction shacks. Instead, there were vitamins, moisturizing creams and energy drinks.

The shack — a cross between a locker room and a tool shed — is reserved for women. “This is unprecedented,” said Ms. Aguilar, 31, who is one of four women working as apprentice carpenters at the Brompton.

Ms. Aguilar is part of a small but noteworthy shift in the construction industry: since 2005, more women have gone into the building trades in New York City than at any other period in history, according to trade union officials.

The women are training to be electricians, plumbers, steamfitters, ironworkers, bricklayers and, most often, carpenters. In the New York City District Council of Carpenters, 280 of 2,000 apprentices, or 14 percent, are women. Most are finding commercial construction jobs.

Though the work sites are decidedly male-dominated, the appearance of more women in hard hats is a result of a campaign by the city and some unions. In 2005, as a construction boom swept the city, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg formed a commission to recruit members of minorities, military veterans, high-school dropouts and women into the building trades.

At the same time, local trade unions agreed to fill 10 percent of new positions in apprenticeship programs with women — the carpenter’s union set its goal at 15 percent — and the State Department of Labor allowed women to jump to the front of the line when trade unions recruited apprentices instead of making them go through the traditional lottery system.

Two years ago, women made up 2.2 percent of the city’s 175,400 construction workers, according to the United States Census Bureau. That figure has inched up to about 3 percent today, industry officials said.

“We have a construction boom and a commitment by the unions to employ women,” said Amy Peterson, the local president of Nontraditional Employment for Women, a group that offers a free six-week training program in the building trades. “We can turn it around and make it not unusual to get women into construction.”

This year, the group placed 158 women in building trades apprenticeships, compared with 139 in 2006 and fewer than 50 in 2000.

For many women, the building trades represent an escape from poverty. Apprentice wages start at about $16 an hour, plus benefits. After a five-year apprenticeship, a carpenter makes about $42 an hour.

For some, a construction apprenticeship also is an opportunity to start over. Yordanis Jusino, 23, took a plumbing class while she was serving a prison sentence for attempted murder and is now enrolled in night classes held by Nontraditional Employment for Women. “There’s a big stigma,” said Ms. Jusino, who lives in the Bronx and was 16 when she went to prison. “Everyone thinks that once you’ve been an inmate, you can’t change.”

Elaine Stanley, 28, is a third-year apprentice at the Brompton and part of a different group of women going into the building trades: those who have college degrees or are changing careers. Ms. Stanley was teaching sixth grade in the Bronx but had not decided on a permanent career when she learned about the Nontraditional Employment for Women training program in 2005. “I was interested and open,” said Ms. Stanley, who added that she had long found architecture-related careers to be appealing.

Ms. Aguilar used to be a night manager at a bar in the West Village. “I knew from growing up that working with my hands was something that I enjoyed doing,” said Ms. Aguilar, who helped her father, a factory worker originally from Guatemala, renovate a building when she was a girl growing up in Chicago.

From 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. every weekday, the apprentices at the Brompton unload tractor-trailers, deliver materials, erect metal frames, lay down insulation and strap themselves into harnesses to hang and repair safety netting. “We started this building,” Ms. Aguilar said.

Elly Spicer has a rare perspective on how the construction industry has changed. She has been a construction worker and an organizer in the carpenters’ union for 22 years, and there was a time, she said, that “if a woman set down her hard hat, she could pick it up to find a male co-worker had used it as a toilet.”

When Tamara Rivera, 41, became a carpenter’s apprentice in 1994, she said, foremen routinely ignored her when handing out assignments. Co-workers would call her “butch” or, conversely, “precious.” She often did not have a separate bathroom to use. “Sixty guys, and I would be the only girl,” she said. Now, she added, “you might still be the only girl, but the attitude is changing.”

There is a new camaraderie between men and women in unions that veteran women carpenters said was once unheard of. “They’re just happy that you can pull your weight,” said Eva Paz, 36, a second-year apprentice in the carpenters’ union, who has a “No Cry Baby” sticker on her hard hat.

Dane Finley, 50, a shop steward at the Brompton who has been a construction worker for 28 years, said: “When there’s ladies on the job, you can’t be animals, knuckleheads. It changes the way everyone acts.”

Pat A. Di Filippo, executive vice president of Turner Construction Company, one of the city’s largest general contractors, said: “Women are finding this is a business, that it is not the boys’ club it once was. It’s a business that needs people to perform tasks, and you’re a woman who can do that task.”

The foothold that women have gained during the construction boom may expand in the coming years. Developers working on large projects at the World Trade Center site and the Atlantic Yards complex in Brooklyn are aiming to employ a work force that is at least 15 percent women.

“As long as the industry remains strong, there will be continued opportunities for women and minorities to join the building trades,” said Louis J. Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers Association, which represents 1,500 contractors in the city that employ union workers.

But what will happen when construction slows is an open question.

“I do fear that,” said Ms. Stanley, the former teacher. “That’s why I try to learn as much as I can, so when that happens, I will have a reputation and people looking out for me.”

We Are In It To Win!

Some of you suguested I repost this excellent speech by General President Doug McCarron, addressing the delegates at the United Brotherhood of Carpenters Convention in Las Vegas, August 2005 “Rebuilding the UBC”. Click here for video

Carpenters International President Doug McCarron Endorses John Edwards

Brothers and sisters in cased you missed it, John Edwards receives the endorsement of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America in Nashua, N.H. on September 8, 2007. Hear International President Douglas J. McCarron introduce and endorse him.

Union smells a rat as art school work continues

The School of Visual Arts continues building its newest dormitory on the Lower East Side to house hundreds of students by next fall, regardless of a menacing-looking, 15-foot inflatable rat overseeing construction.

A group of workers from the New York City District Council of Carpenters has been protesting construction, with the red-eyed rodent as their mascot, alleging that the laborers being used at the site are underpaid and haven’t received proper safety training.

The planned 20-story, 80,000-square-foot residence hall, located at 101 Ludlow St. at Delancey St., will hold 350 beds in a mix of private and semi-private rooms, said Michael Grant, the art school’s spokesperson.

Grant deferred judgment of the allegations to the city’s Buildings and Labor Departments, while Susan Stetzer, Community Board 3 district manager, said the union has asked the board to take a position at next month’s meeting regarding worker wages and safety conditions.

“This has only come up once in the past,” Stezter said, noting that C.B. 3 “is not an investigatory board.”

The locally based Charles Blaichman Real Estate Development Corp. approached S.V.A. to develop the project, which has only been built to about three stories so far and also endured D.O.B. stop-work orders.

Charles Blaichman, who has developed extensively in the Village, did not return calls for comment.

Andres Puerta, an organizer for the carpenters’ union, said his workers — and their fanged friend — plan to protest each weekday, “hopefully until they open the front doors,” he said. “We’re not going to give up.”

Happy Thanksgiving Brothers and Sisters

FOR WHICH WE GIVE THANKS

The first Thanksgiving in the New World was celebrated in mid-October 1621, nearly one year after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Much later, George Washington was the first of many American presidents formally to proclaim a day of thanks. The following prayer was offered in 1789, in appreciation of the hard-earned independence of the United States of America: (click here)

Local 157 Union Officials Suddenly Resigned

New York Breaking News...Three local 157 union officials suddenly resigned on Wednesday November 21, 2007. President and business manager Bill Hanley, Vice President/ business representative George Dilacio and Financial Secretary/business representative Fred Kennedy met with carpenter union head EST Michael Forde at NYCDC headquarters early Wednesday morning in a closed door meeting, and sources say resigned. Union officials at the District Council would not comment other than saying "it's a personal matter". Story still developing...

Tri-Built Construction Admits Fraud

NEW YORK -November 21, 2007 - An Ardsley contractor faces up to five years in prison after admitting yesterday that he defrauded a carpenters union of millions of dollars by bribing union officials, using non-union workers at union job sites, and paying union carpenters off the books.
Patrick Noel McCaul, 48, of Winding Farm Road, pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to one count of conspiracy. His partner in Tri-Built Construction Co., James Dermot McGonnell also pleaded guilty.
The two admitted they engaged in a decade-long plot to defraud the District Council of New York City and Vicinity of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of millions of dollars. Tri-Built was a drywall contractor that held itself out as a union contractor and did business in New York City and Long Island. The company had contracts on numerous publicly funded projects, including a construction site at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn.
When they were indicted in December, federal prosecutors said the two men illegally skimmed $6.5 million in benefits that should have gone to the union.
McCaul and McGonnell were able to underbid other companies for jobs because they knew they would pay workers cash at non-union rates without any benefits or tax withholding, federal prosecutors said. They admitted paying an employee of the union benefits fund to destroy internal records which might show the fraud if the books were ever audited.
As part of their plea, the two men agreed to forfeit $1.5 million which will be paid to the benefit fund, federal authorities said.

Contact and About Us

Let's be heard! Hi, I’m John Musumeci and I write this blog to help keep you up-to-date and informed about the United Brotherhood Of Carpenters (UBC) in New York City.

I started this blog in November 2007 when Local 157 was placed under emergency supervision by General President Douglas McCarron.

I think of this blog as your online meeting hall where union brothers and sisters’ can Communicate, Connect and Stay Informed.

This blog is dedicated to empowering and mobilizing the membership into an irresistible force through the free and open exchange of information, ideas and opinions in the belief that as Union members you have the right to information, to hear, and to be heard!

I have over twenty five years experience as a carpenter and ten years experience as a elected leader. I am committed to reform, members rights, free speech and empowering the members of this union. I hope this blog will empower you to become more active in union affairs.

To contact me, please email me at jmusumeci157@gmail.com or you can call me at 646-812-3527

Former NYCDCC shop steward, David Veltri, gets 27 months in prison

On Friday, November 2, former NYCDCC shop steward, David Veltri, was sentenced to 27 months in prison for accepting at least $8,000 in cash bribes during the period of January through May 2004, from the owners of Tri-Built Construction Inc. in return for leaving Union Carpenters off his shop steward reports for the Kings County Hospital project in Brooklyn.

Veltri's actions helped Tri-Built defraud the NYC District Council Benefits Fund out of at least $70,000 in contributions. Veltri, who pled guilty to charges of aiding and abetting the embezzlement of an employee benefit plan on June 15, will also serve a term of 3 years supervised release, pay a fine of $8,000 and provide $70,000 in restitution to the NYCDCC Benefits Fund.

Tri-Built owners Patrick Noel McCaul and James Dermot McGonnell have been charged under a separate indictment for a long-running scheme to defraud the Council and its Benefits Fund.

B.C. carpenters end 'epic struggle'

Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun--Members vote in favour of breaking away from U.S.-based union-- B.C. carpenters have voted in favour of a settlement allowing them to break from their U.S.-based union in favour of a newer Canadian union. (read full story)

Union Shop Steward Took Benefit Funds

NORTH COUNTRY GAZETTENEW YORK—A former shop steward and executive delegate of Local 157 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners has pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of aiding and abetting the embezzlement of monies from employee benefit plans.

Prosecutors said that from February through June 2006, Frank Proscia conspired with co-defendant Michael Annucci, also a former shop steward, and others to defraud the District Council of New York City and Vicinity, the administrative body that oversees the New York City local chapters of the Carpenters Union, and the union benefit funds.

Among other things, the defendants submitted false shop steward reports that underreported the number of carpenters and the hours worked by carpenters for a construction contractor at a jobsite located in New York City. L&D Installers, Inc. was a furniture installation and construction contractor that operated in New York City and the vicinity. L&D was a party to a collective bargaining agreement with the District Council. Pursuant to the agreement, L&D was obligated to pay all of its workers at an hourly rate specified in that agreement and to make contributions for each hour worked to the District Council Benefit Funds.

The District Council Benefit Funds, which are covered by the laws governing Employee Retirement Income Security Act plans, provide life insurance, hospitalization, medical care, pension and vacation benefits to union members.

A shop steward’s principal duty is to be the daily “eyes and ears” of the union and to report a contractor’s violations of the collective bargaining agreement. The shop steward is required to submit weekly reports, called “shop steward reports,” to the union office, setting forth the hours worked by each of the union’s members assigned to the jobsite. Thus, the shop steward is required to observe the number of hours worked at the jobsite by the union members in order to report the carpenter-hours accurately each week. Underreporting of hours worked by union carpenters saves the contractor money and shortchanges union workers.

Prosecutors said Proscia knowingly submitted false shop steward reports to Local 157 offices which underreported the number of carpenters and hours worked at the L&D job site at 11 Madison Avenue in Manhattan, where Proscia was serving as shop steward, in order to help L&D evade its obligation to make contributions to the District Council Benefit Funds.

Proscia entered a guilty plea to count two of the indictment, which charged him with aiding and abetting the embezzlement of monies and other assets of the welfare and pension benefit plans of the District Council Benefit Funds.

That charge carries a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment; a maximum fine of the greatest of $250,000, twice the gross pecuniary gain derived from the offense or twice the gross pecuniary loss to persons other than the defendant resulting from the offense; a term of supervised release of three years and a mandatory $100 special assessment. Annucci is awaiting trial, currently scheduled for January 2008.

Carpenters Union Backs Hillary

Meet Hillary Clinton's latest backers: New York City's Carpenters union. On Thursday October 25, Michael Forde, the head of one of the most powerful construction unions in the state, threw his 25,000-member New York District Council of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners behind Clinton's White House run.

The eyebrow-raising, closed-door endorsement broke ranks with the national union.

"Hillary is a friend of the carpenters - always has been," said a union member leaving the endorsement.

"She's a friend of labor," said another. The national carpenters union has backed John Edwards.

Hillary and the carpenters have a history together, in 2000 Forde, backed Hillary during her 2000 Senate run.

Judge Urged to Replace A Union Investigator

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE The New York Times

New York--September 21, 2007, Frustrated by enduring corruption, prosecutors have asked a federal judge in Manhattan to replace the independent investigator in charge of rooting out mob involvement and other problems in the carpenters' union in New York.

In a scathing petition, (read below) federal prosecutors called for ousting the investigator, saying he had done far too little to clean up a union known for helping mobsters get lucrative jobs at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and for taking payoffs so that nonunion employees could be hired.

The United States attorney in Manhattan, Michael J. Garcia, filed a 25-page petition last Friday that repeatedly belittled the investigator, William Callahan, saying his ''tenure has been marked by incomplete and slow-moving investigations'' and ''virtually no new evidence of corruption.''

Mr. Garcia, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, accused Mr. Callahan of failing to follow up on strong investigative leads, not telling federal officials the truth about his investigations and betraying the anonymity of union members who confided to him about corruption.

Two years ago, the union, the New York District Council of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, persuaded a federal judge to let it name Mr. Callahan to replace a highly aggressive independent investigator whom the United States attorney wanted to keep.

In his court papers, Mr. Garcia said the former investigator, Walter Mack, did a far better job than Mr. Callahan, saying Mr. Mack had found ''voluminous evidence of both corruption and the union's inability or unwillingness to detect or stop it.''

Mr. Garcia made his request to replace Mr. Callahan in papers filed with Judge Charles S. Haight Jr. of Federal District Court in Manhattan.

Judge Haight helps oversee the carpenters' district council as part of an agreement that the 25,000-member union signed with the federal government in 1994 after prosecutors accused it of being a morass of mob influence, payoffs and off-the-books work.

Mr. Callahan's two-year term officially expired on Aug. 26, but Judge Haight provisionally extended it after the government said it would file papers seeking to have him replaced.

In a telephone interview, Mr. Callahan vowed to fight the government's request. ''Certainly this will be litigated before Judge Haight,'' he said. ''The only comment is we totally disagree with all their conclusions. There have been many accomplishments, but that will be spelled out in our response to this petition.''

Mr. Garcia asserted that Mr. Callahan had failed to pursue evidence that Mr. Mack had developed about off-the-books work, fraud against the union and organized crime involvement in construction at the Cipriani banquet hall at 200 Fifth Avenue at 23rd Street. Among the evidence given to Mr. Callahan, federal prosecutors said, were firsthand reports that two convicted felons, ''known labor racketeers,'' were at the construction site.

The United States attorney said that Mr. Callahan's follow-up report reflected no further investigation and no indication that he had interviewed witnesses or took depositions.

Mr. Mack had found many job sites where companies had paid off union officials so that carpenters could be employed off the books, enabling companies to avoid paying benefits or overtime.

Mr. Garcia also attacked Mr. Callahan for not pursuing an investigation of On Par Contracting even though Mr. Mack had given him voluminous evidence of fraud, including omissions of workers from shop steward reports, unreported overtime and jobs where there were no shop stewards to make sure union rules were followed.

Mr. Garcia said rank-and-file carpenters had lost confidence in Mr. Callahan to such a degree that the number of calls to the anticorruption hot line had plummeted.

Charles Stillman, a lawyer for Mr. Callahan's company, Unitel, said, ''From everything I've heard, they've done a first-rate job, and there is no reason for them not to continue.''

On Monday, Judge Haight issued a contempt citation against Michael Forde, the top carpenters' official in New York. Judge Haight fined Mr. Forde $10,000 in ruling that he had rigged the job-referral system in favor of a friend. Judge Haight found that Mr. Forde had told his friend to list certain specific skills that a contractor was looking for, enabling him to jump the line to get a carpenter's job.

Judge Haight wrote that Mr. Forde's conduct was ''dishonorable and revealed his personal contempt'' for the job-referral system and the union's agreement with the government.

Judge Haight cited a report by Mr. Callahan that stated that ''violations routinely occur'' in the job-referral system.

Mr. Forde and the district council's lawyer, Gary Rothman, did not respond to several voice mail messages.

On Nov. 26, Mr. Forde faces a retrial on bribery charges in state court in Manhattan. In 2005, a state judge overturned his conviction and that of a union business agent, Martin Devereaux, finding that jury misconduct had skewed the trial in favor of the prosecution. The two had been convicted of taking payoffs in connection with the use of nonunion workers at a renovation job at the Park Central Hotel.
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Carpenters International President Doug McCarron Endorses John Edwards

John Edwards receives the endorsement of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America in Nashua, N.H. on September 8, 2007. International President Douglas J. McCarron introduces him.

Local 157 Shop Steward Busted

Runnin' Scared Big-Mouth Blockhead Busted
Or, How not to address your arresting officer

by Tom Robbins

New York--March 20th, 2007 --No one likes opening the door at 6:40 a.m. and finding three federal agents on the stoop with an arrest warrant. But even veteran tough guys accustomed to such unexpected breakfast meetings will tell you: Don't aggravate the situation.

Especially not the way a carpenters union shop steward named Michael "Mickey" Annucci did last September 29, when he was arrested in New Jersey for conspiring with a crooked contractor to cheat dozens of union members out of thousands of dollars in wages and benefits by leaving them off his reports to the union.


In a court hearing this week in Manhattan before U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones, Annucci's attorney, Joseph DeMatteo, is seeking to get his client's post-arrest statements suppressed. For good reason.


According to federal officials, Annucci greeted the arresting agents with a request to "fuck off." For good measure, he added: "You can all go fuck yourselves." Annucci, 54, thenreally hit them below the belt when they advised him of his Miranda rights. "I thought you'd be better than this, you can't read it," the carpenter allegedly opined, adding that "this wasn't the way it was done on television," according to court filings by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Zornberg.


The feisty Annucci kept up this patter as the agents drove him from his Port Monmouth home to Manhattan for arraignment. "You've never met a man like Mickey Annucci," he boasted. "Mickey Annucci's never been to college, but he has more life experience than any of you."


The cockiness appeared to evaporate moments later, though, as Annucci complained that everyone was picking on him. "I'm the little guy," he moaned. And although he had brushed off the agents' suggestion back at his house that he could help himself by cooperating with the investigation (that part apparently was just like TV), Annucci couldn't resist asking exactly what the agents wanted to know.


According to prosecutor Zornberg, Special Agent Ryan Gibbs of the Office of Labor Racketeering told him they'd be interested in information about a powerful union official named Bill Hanley. Annucci allegedly scoffed that Gibbs should get his "facts straight." He kept mum for a few minutes after that, but then did himself real damage by offering some self-incriminating information: He'd been told to "leave guys off the sheets," he admitted, referring to the steward reports. What's more, he'd "had to play ball" or lose his job.


Annucci's alleged schemes involved a massive, years-long renovation of the old Metropolitan Life complex on Madison Avenue, now the offices of Credit Suisse. According to the indictment, the project was carried out by a New Jersey-based firm called L&D Installers, Inc., whose owner, Gary DiMaria, recently passed away. "Gary," Annucci divined for the officers, "is probably in hell."
Annucci was still cracking wise when the car pulled up at the Department of Labor's offices on Varick Street in Manhattan.

To be on the safe side, agents read him his Miranda rights a second time. "You know what? I only understand Spanish," Annucci said. The officers were happy to comply—Special Agent Marcus Rivera read the warning once more, in the requested language.


While being fingerprinted, Annucci took yet another shot. "You look like you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth," he informed agent Stephen Donnelly.


Annucci later pled not guilty and is awaiting trial (while widely protesting his treatment). Meanwhile, the grand jury probing the corruption case heard testimony from one top carpenters union official last week, and an attorney for union big Hanley said his client expects to be called shortly.

Delegate Meeting Reports 2007 - 2008

2007-2008 Delegate Meeting and Exec Comm Minutes

Market Recovery Initiative

From The Carpenter - Fall 2006

Together, we were responsible for winning command of the commercial construction market in New York City. Union carpenters created stability and security for our members who, today, enjoy industry-leading wages, excellent benefits and safe working conditions. Our union has stabilized this impressive business while securing
union members’ futures. Unfortunately, though, we have not had as much success in the residential market, a market that, historically union, now consists of primarily non-union construction. This change began with our competitors underbidding and winning work on 2-story residential structures and now includes 12-story, 200 + apartment complexes.

The residential market has grown exponentially in the outer boroughs but our percentage of market share has not grown with it; our current share of this lucrative business is minimal. This has to change. Carpenters working in our jurisdiction for $7/hour have taken our work and, to make matters worse, this has negatively influenced our commercial agreements. This can not continue. We need to regain our market. WE NEED TO FIGHT BACK. To address this decline in market share, we have established a Market Recovery Initiative. We own the commercial construction market. Let’s get to work and win (back) the residential market, too.

CONTINUE READING...

Wages July 1, 2001 thru June 31, 2006

Collective Bargaining Agreement - July 1, 2001 - June 31, 2006

Journeyman Wages

Wages	07/01/01	01/01/02	07/01/02	01/01/03	07/01/03	07/01/04	07/01/05
Journeyman Carpenter	$33.68	$35.09	$35.67	$37.36	$38.78	$39.25	$40.25
Forman	$36.68	$38.09	$38.59	$40.36	$41.78	$42.25	$43.25
General Foreman	$39.68	$41.09	$41.67	$43.36	$44.78	$45.25	$46.25

Apprentices Wages

Wages	07/01/01	01/01/02	07/01/02	01/01/03	07/01/03	07/01/04	07/01/05
First Year	$13.47	$14.04	$14.27	$14.94	$15.51	$15.70	$16.10
Second Year	$16.84	$17.55	$17.84	$18.68	$19.39	$19.62	$20.12
Third Year	$21.89	$22.81	$23.19	$24.28	$25.21	$25.51	$26.16
Fourth Year	$26.94	$28.07	$28.54	$29.89	$31.02	$31.40	$32.20

Fringe Benefits Journeyman

Benefits	07/01/01	01/01/02	07/01/02	01/01/03	07/01/03	07/01/04	07/01/05
Welfare Adjustment	$8.80	$8.80	$8.80	$8.80	$9.00 -$1.00 $8.00	$10.00 -$1.00 $9.00	$10.50 -$1.00 $9.50
Pension	$5.41	$5.41	$5.91	$5.91	$6.36	$6.81	$7.81
Supplemental Pension					$1.00	$1.00	$1.00
Annuity	$4.70	$4.70	$5.20	$5.20	$5.65	$6.10	$6.10
A.J.R.E.I.F.	$0.29	$0.29	$0.35	$0.35	$0.50	$0.50	$0.50
Vacation Working Dues Total Vacation	$4.40 -$0.30 $4.10	$4.40 -$0.30 $4.10	$4.40 -$0.30 $4.10	$4.40 -$0.30 $4.10	$4.50 -$0.30 $4.20	$4.95 -$0.30 $4.65	$5.41 -$0.30 $5.11
Supplemental	$0.04	$0.04	$0.04	$0.04	$0.04	$0.04	$0.04
Int’l (IBC)	$0.06	$0.06	$0.06	$0.06	$0.06	$0.06	$0.06
N.Y.D.C.C. Labor/MGT	$0.10	$0.10	$0.15	$0.15	$0.20	$0.20	$0.20
Total Fringe Benefit	$23.80	$23.80	$24.91	$24.91	$26.31	$28.66	$30.62

Fringe Benefits Apprentices

Benefits	07/01/01	01/01/02	07/01/02	01/01/03	07/01/03	07/01/04	07/01/05
Welfare Adjustment	$8.80	$8.80	$8.80	$8.80	$9.00 -$1.00 $8.00	$10.00 -$1.00 $9.00	$10.50 -$1.00 $9.50
Pension	$2.71	$2.71	$2.96	$2.96	$3.18	$3.41	$3.90
Supplemental Pension					$1.00	$1.00	$1.00
Annuity	$2.35	$2.35	$2.60	$2.60	$2.83	$3.05	$3.05
A.J.R.E.I.F.	$0.29	$0.29	$0.35	$0.35	$0.50	$0.50	$0.50
Vacation Working Dues Total Vacation	$2.20 -$0.30 $1.90	$2.20 -$0.30 $1.90	$2.20 -$0.30 $1.90	$2.20 -$0.30 $1.90	$2.25 -$0.30 $1.95	$2.48 -$0.30 $2.18	$2.70 -$0.30 $2.40
Supplemental	$0.04	$0.04	$0.04	$0.04	$0.04	$0.04	$0.04
Int’l (IBC)	$0.06	$0.06	$0.06	$0.06	$0.06	$0.06	$0.06
N.Y.D.C.C. Labor/MGT	$0.10	$0.10	$0.15	$0.15	$0.20	$0.20	$0.20
Total Fringe Benefit	$16.55	$16.55	$17.16	$17.16	$18.06	$19.74	$20.95

NYC District Council CBA

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Labor War in Chelsea

By Tom Robbins Tuesday, May 2 2006

There's a nasty little chapter in the national immigration debate playing out along the side streets in the West Twenties in Manhattan these days. There, construction union members, many of them first- and second-generation immigrants themselves, are squared off against a contractor using just-off-the-boat employees willing to work long hours at substandard wages with no benefits.The protests have already produced seven arrests and at least one badly bloodied head. But those wounds are minor compared to the issues at stake here, which include the increasing success of non-union builders in the city, fed by a seemingly boundless supply of immigrant workers—most of them undocumented—willing to work for much less than their union brethren.

While non-union builders have long nibbled at the peripheries of the city's construction trade, they've generally been confined to smaller jobs in the outer boroughs. But in the past few years, such contractors and developers have grown increasingly bold, venturing into Manhattan to do bigger and bigger jobs, including some of the huge high-rise projects that have traditionally been the bread and butter of the union construction trades.

The buildings now rising in this corner of the old garment district in Chelsea appear to be the largest non-union developments yet. On West 26th, West 28th, and West 29th streets, a trio of soaring 24-story towers is being constructed by a Queens-based developer named Sam Chang, who has carved out a local niche as a builder of moderately priced hotels. Chang's McSam LLC, city records show, has spent more than $100 million in the past 18 months to acquire these and other development sites around the city. The three multimillion-dollar projects on the West Side (one is expected to be a Hampton Inn) are aimed at out-of-town businesspeople and budget-minded tourists.

To build them, Chang turned to a non-union general contractor named Tritel Construction, which in turn subcontracted much of the work to a firm based in upstate Pearl River called EMC Contracting. EMC, records show, only recently shifted from building one- and two-family homes to constructing multi-story projects.

The key ingredient that makes such projects feasible is an abundance of cheap immigrant labor, and that's what's building the three towers on the West Side. Without a union card in their pockets, or much else in the way of either job-training certification or documentation, immigrant workers are constructing wooden frames, bending steel bars, and pouring concrete. They can be seen shinnying up newly poured concrete columns, most of them without the safety belts required by federal safety and health regulations.

In addition to the job hazards, their pay, according to union organizers and workers who agreed to talk about their employment under a guarantee of anonymity, is less than half the roughly $40-an-hour-plus-benefits package that a union carpenter or laborer would receive.

The immigrants say they are also being treated to a curious two-tier wage system under which young Irish men on the job are being paid $20 to $25 an hour, while Brazilians—bused in daily from Newark's Ironbound section—are paid less, between $15 to $20 an hour.

In mid April, members of the carpenters' and laborers' unions began picketing the sites and trying to talk to the workers about job conditions. They've sprinkled the projects with flyers urging workers to contact the union. "Union carpenters get what they're worth! Do you?" reads a flyer detailing the health, pension, training, and job placement benefits for union members. To reach the workers, organizers have waited on street corners in the early morning to snag workers on their way to the job sites, and even tossed the flyers from adjoining buildings onto the projects.

Contractors have responded by beefing up security with private guards. They have also hired retired police detectives for protection, and according to union organizers, off-duty cops as well.

Twice so far, tensions on the blocks have spilled over into brawls. On April 21, a fracas broke out after union members allegedly blocked the path of a truck delivering supplies to the West 26th Street site. According to the union, plainclothes security guards tumbled out from behind the gates of the job site wielding long blackjacks. When police arrived on the scene and began grabbing at security guards and union members alike, one guard allegedly yelled, "Stop, I'm a cop," while holding up a shield. Police eventually arrested five men, all of them members of carpenters' union Local 608, who were charged with resisting arrest and inciting to riot.

A week later, on April 28, another fight broke out on West 28th Street after someone tossed a smoke bomb at the work site. In the melee that followed, a union member, Anthony Mercado, was sliced on the back of the head with a utility knife, a wound that left a long, ugly gash that took several staples to close. Police initially arrested a 28-year-old Irish immigrant worker named Mark Wynne, who gave an address in the Woodlawn section of the Bronx. But Wynne was later released after he was not identified in a lineup.

Tensions at the sites were ramped up even more when concrete trucks making deliveries from a Brooklyn plant were accompanied by carloads of young black men, several of whom allegedly flashed guns at the union pickets, most of whom are white. "I'm gonna put a cap in your ass," one of the men allegedly threatened an organizer.

All of the incidents at the job sites are currently being investigated by the labor racketeering unit of the office of Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, a spokeswoman confirmed.
Sam Chang, the projects' developer, failed to return several calls to his office in Floral Park. A secretary suggested that he might respond to an e-mail message, but those also went unanswered. Also playing nonspeaking roles in the drama were Jimmy Wu, owner of the contracting firm Tritel, and Michael Mahoney of EMC, both of whom did not respond to messages.

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Carpenters' union official Tommy Costello: "Our fight's not with the workers." photo: Giulietta Verdon-Roe

Union organizers are careful to emphasize that their beef is with the employers, not the workers.

"What they've got going here is an underground economy," said Tom Costello of the New York District Council of Carpenters, who has been monitoring the West Side non-union sites. "There's no taxes being paid, there's no workers' compensation, no health protections."

Costello's father was a carpenter who emigrated from Ireland and found work through the union after his arrival. A carpenter for more than 30 years, Costello has worked as a foreman on major construction projects, and also as an instructor in the union's apprentice training program. He said he had watched in amazement at the risks being taken by the non-union workers as the building has taken shape. "You're sending a kid from São Paolo, Brazil, and another from County Donegal, and neither one of them has ever worked on more than a two- or three-story job, and making them a high-rise construction worker. It's not that easy," he said.

He said that standard procedures for testing the strength of the concrete and the durability of the steel reinforcement bars were not being conducted. "Someone's going to get hurt on the job," he said, "and the public should also be worried."

Another union organizer, Andres Puerta, whose family came from Ecuador, said that he had persuaded several individual workers to sign up with the union. "They talk about how scared they are," said Puerta. "They're scared of being hurt at work, and they're scared of losing the job. Most of them are sending money to family members at home."

The union organizers said that most of the young immigrants had brushed off suggestions that they needed health insurance in case of illness or injury. "They think, 'What do I need that for?' " said Costello. "Most of these guys are making $25 an hour cash, and they are putting in 60 hours a week. So maybe they're making $1,500 a week, not paying any taxes. They see it as the best deal of their lives."

John Greaney, the president of the carpenters' Local 608, which has 7,500 members and whose jurisdiction covers Manhattan's West Side, said the union was trying to appeal to both employers and workers alike. "Our fight is not with the workers," said Greaney. "We welcome them. We are not going to do the job of the government. We are not INS agents. What we're up against here is the corporate greed of these developers and construction companies."

Whatever their motivation, non-union contractors are clearly taking up a bigger share of construction work. Nationally, according to research by the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, unions' share of the construction industry has plummeted from a high of 80 percent in the years right after World War II to less than 18 percent today. Even in New York State, traditionally union-strong territory, organized labor's share slipped below 50 percent for the first time in the 1990s and is believed to be even less currently.

The notion that organized labor will be able to forever hold on to big-ticket projects has been nourished by giant, government-backed developments like the pending new Freedom Tower in Lower Manhattan and the new stadiums slated for Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens. In each of those cases, labor used its political muscle to help win approvals. But while labor was focusing on those mega-projects, private developers of non-union ventures like the new high-rises in the West Twenties have slipped into town.

"There's been a false sense of security," said one union labor analyst. "There's a creep factor that started in the South and the Southwest, and eventually hit upstate and the outer boroughs. Now it's right in Manhattan."