Vol. 73/No. 23      June 15, 2009

Union officials said that the company, Leviathan Construction, hires nonunion workers to avoid paying prevailing union wages and to cut corners on safety to boost profits. The noontime demonstration in front of a worksite just blocks from Times Square attracted workers from nearby construction jobs, many in hardhats with concrete- or paint-splattered work clothes.

Roughly 75 percent of construction workers in the city belong to one of 25 different construction unions, organized along craft lines. Union speakers said that picket lines would continue until Leviathan agrees to hire union workers for the construction project.

Bob Barry, from the New York State Building and Construction Trades Council, told the crowd that union officials had supported zoning change and tax breaks to promote new construction “because we believed we would have union jobs, not nonunion jobs. We need to let them know we are the most skilled and best workers in the world.”

Members of the construction unions are among the better paid workers here. Union boilermakers, carpenters, electricians, and ironworkers earn more than $45 an hour for a seven-hour day. Laborers earn more than $20 an hour.

Reporters for the Militant have heard from numerous undocumented workers about construction bosses who agreed to pay them only half or less of the prevailing union wage. Often the boss then paid only half of the lowered wage, promising to pay the rest later.

“Leviathan wants to exploit workers who can’t stand up for themselves,” Edward Walsh, president of the New York State District Council of Iron Workers, said at the rally. “We’re willing to stand up for them. We’re willing to take them into the union.”

While some speakers and rally participants blamed undocumented immigrants for “taking” union jobs, others said that all workers, regardless of what papers they have, should be welcomed into the union. Other speakers at the protest openly scapegoated workers without papers. “Who’s taking our jobs?” said Terry Moore, a business agent for Metallic Lathers Union Local 46. “Undocumented workers who are not properly trained, getting substandard wages.”

Workers at the rally expressed a variety of views. The Leviathan workers “are probably without papers,” iron worker Corbett Melfti told the Militant. “We don’t want to deny people the right to work. They need to know we’re not here to turn them in. It’s about everybody’s quality of life.”

Construction worker Wayne Antoine, who is originally from Trinidad and Tobago, said, “Undocumented should do what they have to do to get documented. They can’t come into the city and take the jobs of people who support the city.”

The day after the rally, construction union officials reached an agreement with the bosses that would reduce labor costs up to 21 percent on selected building projects, Crain’s reported. The concessions include some wage freezes, no strikes, and increasing the standard workday to eight hours.

Some contractors complained that the concessions are not enough. “It doesn’t solve the problem,” said Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York.

Many workers at the May 28 rally were looking for a way to strengthen the union, stop wage cuts, and fight for safer working conditions.

“I’m here to show solidarity,” Abe Delgado, a member of Laborers Local 79 said. “I think the guys working here, whether they’re in the union or not, should be compensated the same amount that other construction workers get.”

“This affects all of us,” Manuel Muzha, a mason who is originally from Ecuador, said. “We need the union to protect ourselves.”
 
 
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