Union workers stage protest
Union workers protest use of non-union laborers on Stamford project
10/10/2008
STAMFORD -- Sensing a tightening job market, hundreds of union construction workers rallied in the city's South End on Friday to protest the hiring of non-union, out-of-state laborers. They converged on the rubbled work site of Harbor Point being managed by Building and Land Technology.
The Norwalk developer has hired a Texas contractor that union leaders say employs non-union workers, who typically work for lower wages and no benefits.
A telephone call seeking an interview from Carl Kuehner, chief executive officer of Building and Land Technology, was not returned.At a cost of $3 billion for 7.6 million square feet of mixed-use waterfront space, Harbor Point is the state's largest development. With the economy in turmoil and financing drying up, there was a sense among many workers Friday that the next projects may be few and far between.
"If we don't get these jobs here, we're not going to have any jobs," said John Olsen, president of Connecticut AFL-CIO, one of more than a dozen speakers at the event.
Members in the crowd nodded in agreement, shouting "yeah." Along the front row, several wore signs reading, "We are CT Taxpayers" and "No rats."
At least three contractors are working on various sites that make up the Harbor Point complex. One of them is O&G Industries, which is based in Torrington and employs union workers, several of whom attended the noon event.
They watched a line of state and local politicians who showed up for a brief turn at the podium. The speakers included U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4, along with his Democratic challenger Jim Himes; state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, state Rep. William Tong, D-Stamford, and Mayor Dannel Malloy. "Those jobs on this job site are going to go to good, hardworking Connecticut labor citizens," Malloy said, pointing to the mounds of dirt in the distance.
The mayor ended his speech by raising his fist and proclaiming, "Labor is back."
Protest organizer Charles LeConche seemed unimpressed by the gesture, saying the mayor should have demanded the Harbor Point developer hire union laborers. LeConche is co-director of the Connecticut First Coalition and business manager of Connecticut Laborers' District Council.
In an interview after the rally, Malloy said he has been urging the developer to sign a Project Labor Agreement, a pact between builders and unions setting wages and benefits.
Under the original builder, Antares, a PLA was in place, as a union leaders noted.
"Who do you think got them to sign that?" Malloy said, referring to his own efforts.
Harbor Point, contrary to what union members like LeConche believed, had not received any tax relief from the city, he said. "This is $3 billion of private money." Malloy said people often mistakenly assume the city provided tax relief because "to get this kind of development, that's the standard" in the state. "But it isn't here," Malloy said.
Beginning around 11:30 a.m. Friday, there was a sense something was afoot.Construction workers dressed in boots and hard hats began marching along Washington Boulevard, toward the South End. Many were on break from jobs at other construction sites, including the Royal Bank of Scotland, right across the highway. They came to support their union brothers and sisters, they said.
"It should have never gone this far," said Terry Finn, who belongs to Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
"We've been losing out market share to non-union workers," he said, adding that, lately, non-union "was hurting, too." Finn, a Stamford resident, seemed unmoved by the promises from the mayor and other politicians."I'm 44 and growing more and more cynical," he said.
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