NYC contractors, unions urge three strikes policy for safety violations
"Coletti noted: Construction in NYC is becoming a 'Tale of Two Cities,' contractors who follow the rules and those who don't. Construction fatalities and accidents do not discriminate between union and non-union jobs, but we can't escape the fact that, according to federal government statistics, 86% of deaths occur on non-union sites."
Selling out workers' safety
"A 2007 New York study of the city's housing industry claims that more than two-thirds of the residential workforce is no longer treated as employees, split between so-called independent contractors and those who are off the books. These workers are not covered by the most basic labor laws such as overtime, unemployment, and workers compensation and will never be eligible for Social Security."
See how 1099 abuse costs every taxpayer & honest employer
Boston Globe
By Mark Erlich
Hardhats face off in West Side rumble
"Construction workers squared off on a midtown street yesterday after a nonunion laborer backed a cement mixer into a crowd of protesting union workers, police and witnesses said." --Daily News
VIDEO!!---abclocal.com
Regional carpenters union buys $9M plot for new headquarters
"A resurgence in the use of union labor in the construction industry finds the carpenters union preparing to build a training center and headquarters in Albuquerque that will give it much more visibility."
- New Mexico Business Weekly by Tom O'Connell
How hot construction biz brings a black market, scams & deaths
"The biggest building boom in more than 30 years has spawned a cadre of scofflaw developers in every borough who routinely violate building codes, flout zoning regulations and ignore basic construction safety, a Daily News investigation shows."
"Hiring workers off the books shifts costs to taxpayers and law-abiding contractors and gives unscrupulous builders an unfair competitive advantage, especially in contracts awarded to the lowest bidder."
Soaring Executive Pay Attacked by Shareholder Activists
In this spring’s round of corporate annual meetings, the Carpenters Union led an effort to clamp down on performance metric gamesmanship. The Carpenters and allied groups pushed a resolution asking corporate boards to benchmark their performance standards against competing firms. The goal: no windfalls for executives whose companies fail to beat their competitors.
On June 4, 2007 over 1300 Northwest carpenters went on strike....
6/9/07
Strike reflects divide in labor movement
6/13/07
A Carpenters Union strike of 1300 drywallers in Oregon and SW Washington has been met with indifference and hostility by other building trades unions
6/18/07
Drywallers to vote on new contract
2007-2010 Wall and Ceiling Agreement Info
Carpenters’ Shop Steward Admits Taking Bribe
On Fri., June 15, before Magistrate Judge Debra C. Freeman, former NYC District Council steward David Veltri pled guilty to charges of aiding and abetting the embezzlement of an employee benefit plan by accepting a bribe of at least $8,000 in return for leaving Union Carpenters off his steward reports for a Tri-Built Construction Inc. job in Brooklyn. The offense occurred from January through May 2004. Sentencing has been set for 9/15/2007 before U.S. District Judge William Pauley of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. --ubcyes.com
Veltri Plea Press Release
Carpenters Union using email and txt-ing to mobilize members
The Business Journal reports that the carpenters union for Seattle and Portland are using text-messaging and email to mobilize their folks before some big contract negotiations.
Carpenters leader hammers at other unions' attitude
Terry Nelson didn't get to be executive secretary-treasurer of the 22,000-member Carpenters' District Council of Greater St. Louis by hiding his light under a bushel. At times he can be brash and provocative, and he peppers his conversation with one curse word after another. Nelson also can be tender and gentle and has a sentimental streak. He cares passionately about the future of the St. Louis area and its economic place in the global marketplace. On Thursday, he flew to China to visit Shanghai and Beijing, two cities where the carpenters' pension fund has invested its members' retirement funds. Nelson began this interview by explaining his two guiding principles: never fear failure and always do the right thing.
Latinos' job injuries are often crippling
"We hear horror stories all the time," said Jimmy Gibbs, director of special projects for the Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council Local 225, which represents 1,500 workers, roughly 20 percent of whom are Latino. Gibbs said injuries are down among his union's members, primarily because of bilingual training. But that may not always be the case industrywide.
Demolition Work To Begin Next Week On Atlantic Yards Project
The job will begin with the removal of hazardous substances like asbestos, which is expected to take two to three weeks.
Workers can demand -- and get -- signing bonuses, housing assistance and relocation expenses
Southern Nevada's building boom has stretched its construction workforce paper-thin, causing contractors to compete for top talent, including project managers, engineers and superintendents. Demand for skilled help has also resulted in everything from out-of-state recruiting and signing bonuses, to flex hours and 401(k)s.
Honors to Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Dudas of Lancaster on the celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary.
The occasion was commemorated with a family vacation at Peak 'N Peak and a gathering of family and friends in their daughter's home. Maryann (nee Douglas) is retired from M&T Bank. Mr. Dudas is a retired Union Carpenter. The couple has seven children and 16 grandchildren.
Happy upcoming first wedding anniversary to June and Ray Butler.
June, 76, is a retired banker from Butler, NJ. Ray, 73, is a retired member of the UBC's New York City District Council. June has three children, four grandchildren; Raymond has two living children, one deceased son, nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Their previous spouses are deceased. Both are active in their church and enjoy dancing, canasta, traveling and getting to know one another. They are making their home in McMichaels, Pennsylvania.
May there be many wonderful years ahead for Kimberly D'Amore and Robert O'Driscoll who recently announced their engagement. The future bride is a registered nurse at Richmond University Medical Center, West Brighton. The bridegroom-to-be has a bachelor of science degree in telecommunications from St. John's University, Grymes Hill. He is a Union Carpenter with Local 608, Manhattan. An April 2008 wedding is being planned.
After years of stalemates and false starts, New York leaders yesterday announced a far-reaching deal to overhaul the state’s much-criticized workers’ compensation system by significantly increasing the weekly benefits that go to injured workers while cracking down on employers who cheat the system.
Lawmakers have long described the workers’ compensation system in New York as an unfathomable mess, with insurance premiums that are among the nation’s highest even while worker benefits are very low.
Construction workers endure high rates of death, injury
ST. PAUL - More workers are killed on construction jobs than in any other occupation, according to the latest workplace fatality figures from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
On the Take: Labor Union Corruption in New York City, Past, Present, Future
Recent scandals are the jumping off point for this forum, in which the new head of the city's Central Labor Council and distinguished scholars ask: How pervasive has labor corruption been in New York City? What has caused it? How does it compare to (or connect with) corruption in business and politics? What has been its impact on Gotham's economy and polity? What to do about it? An important and provocative evening with Ed Ott, Executive Director, New York City Central Labor Council, AFL/CIO; Mike Merrill, Dean, Harry Van Arsdale Jr. Center for Labor Studies, Empire State College; Robert Fitch, author, Solidarity for Sale; and James Jacobs, Professor of Law and Director, Center for Research in Crime and Justice, New York University School of Law, author, Mobsters, Unions, and Feds: The Mafia and the American Labor Movement.
February 26th, 6:30 - Ninth Floor
The History Forum is free. Seating is limited. Admittance will be on a first come, first served basis, no reservations.
Unless otherwise noted, all forums take place at the
CUNY GRADUATE CENTER - 365 5th Avenue at 34th Street.
Construction Begins On Atlantic Yards Project
The Atlantic Yards redevelopment project has been the subject of a lot of debate, but it is now finally the subject of some construction.
Carpenters Support Full Funding of the Northwest Forest Plan
The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC) today applauded the decision to fully fund the Northwest Forest Plan as part of the President's Fiscal Year 2008 Budget request for the U.S. Forest Service.
Union backs Oregon immigrant against deportation
The image of construction workers opposing illegal immigration as job threats is taking a different spin in the case of Jose Alfredo Cobin, who could be deported after an immigration hearing on Tuesday.
Record Low Temps Sock NYC, Outside Workers
With wind gusts in the 20-30 mph range, it felt 20-30 degrees colder, making life miserable for residents who had to work outside.
Mayor Introduces Plan Aimed At Improving High Rise Workers Safety
As building projects in the city increase, so have worker deaths. Mayor Michael Bloomberg introduced a new $6 million plan Wednesday to increase training, break down language barriers between workers and contractors and regulate the suspended scaffolding industry.
PRESS RELEASE:
City Aims to Protect Scaffold Workers by Enhancing Enforcement, Worker Outreach and Training
A look at the "coalition" of 2007.
As union members, we must be aware of this menacing factor in our industry. Interesting...nowhere in this NY Times article is any mention of the safety hazards presented by the non-union labor.
According to press release by Building Trade Employers’ Association’s (BTEA) annual safety conference held at the Hilton New York in Nov. 2006...
"86% of All NYC Fatalities Occur on Sites Employing Non-Union Labor"
Construction Worker Hospitalized After Fall
A construction worker was hospitalized Friday after falling 20 feet from a work site at 16th Street between 10th and 11th Avenue in Chelsea.
Welder Critical After 30 Foot Fall in Brooklyn
Construction Worker Rescued From 20-Foot Hole @ 65th street and Second Avenue
Construction Worker Dies After Fall In The Bronx
Frank Spencer, 56, of Haddonfield, will be in charge of 120,000 union carpenters in New England and the Mid-Atlantic region, from Maine to West Virginia.
The New Jersey union leader managed to negotiate a five-year deal with the famously union-averse Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will become a vice president of the national United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.
15% OF NYC ELECTRICIANS TO BE FURLOUGHED [laid off]
• Furlough period is 10 weeks to begin 1/1/2007, with a requirement that each employee’s first furlough period must be at least six consecutive weeks.
• Over a four week period beginning 1/2/2007, each employer with ten or more “A” journeypersons will furlough 15% of their total “A” journeypersons and replace them with an unemployed journeyperson.
Nets' Future Brooklyn Home To Be Called Barclays Arena
The Nets and Forest City Ratner Companies announced Thursday that London-based Barclays Bank has agreed to a deal for the naming rights of the planned arena in the Atlantic Yards project for Downtown Brooklyn.
Two contractors have been indicted for participating in an 11-year scheme to defraud the carpenters union benefit funds by using non-union labor, paying union carpenters off the books and bribing shop stewards and an employee of the union benefit funds to assist in the fraud!
INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR’S REPORT ON
UNREPORTED AND OTHER "CASH" PAYMENTS TO CARPENTERS
BY TRI-BUILT CONSTRUCTION, INC
INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR’S REPORT ON
UNREPORTED AND OTHER "CASH" PAYMENTS TO CARPENTERS
BY BOOM CONSTRUCTION ENTERPRISES, INC
About 1 in 5 union organizers or activists can expect to be fired as a result of their union organizing, according to a new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
The paper, “Dropping the Ax: Illegal Firings During Union Election Campaigns,” by John Schmitt and Ben Zipperer, finds a steep rise in illegal firings of pro-union workers in recent years.
As building of homes slows down, commercial real estate picks up slack
Although residential construction continues to grow, the pace of employment expansion in the housing sector is a fraction of what it was earlier this year.
However, nonresidential sectors are poised to pick up the baton, a welcome development for construction workers who otherwise might have lost jobs tied to residential realty.
By George Avalos,
MEDIANEWS STAFF
The Sinner Within
How Brian McLaughlin betrayed the labor movement and conned us all
by Tom Robbins
Village Voice
From Wikipedia
Atlantic Yards foes pin hopes on pol
Opponents of Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn are hoping that the "Silver bullet" can strike for a third time and at least delay the 22-acre, $4.2 billion megadevelopment.
By Michael Clancy
amNewYork City Editor
Labor Presses for Measure to Ease Unionizing
Claiming a major role in the Democrats’ victory last month, labor leaders are pressing Congressional Democrats to enact a measure to make it easier for workers to unionize.
New York Times
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Published: December 8, 2006
DEMOLITION AT LAST FOR WTC-SITE BLDG.
Workers yesterday began taking apart the black-shrouded, ruined Deutsche Bank AG skyscraper that has languished above Ground Zero since 9/11.
By AMY WESTFELDT, AP
Photographer Annie Leibovitz & the Times Building
"With our skyline forested with cranes, it’s a good time to be a construction worker. Workers at the 52-story New York Times Building, rising across from the Port Authority, are practically celebrities: The developer hired superstar photographer Annie Leibovitz to spend her mornings shooting them. Ironworkers Teddy Noller and Cyril Stapleton and ironworker apprentice Brandon Gonzales (pictured left) sat down with Arianne Cohen."
By Arianne Cohen
New York Magazine
Union carpenters assulated
Two union carpenters are pursuing assault charges against a Braintree condo developer who they say pushed them off the sidewalk, yelled racial insults at them, and ripped a sign from their hands as they picketed his project late last month.
By Robert Knox
Boston Globe
Risky business: Only the best need apply
Three generations of Cook Inlet construction divers say the dangers of the job bind them like family
By Melissa Campbell
Alaska Journal of Commerce
Fatal Construction Accidents in the City Rise Sharply Over 12 Months
"Of the 28 incidents in which the 29 workers were killed, 19 involved companies with 10 or fewer workers and 21 involved workers who were immigrants or had limited English proficiency and 24 involved nonunionized workers."
New York Times
By SEWELL CHAN
Published: November 22, 2006
