NYC Rally Objects To Non-Union Construction - 04/28/09

Submitted by Doug Cunningham on April 27, 2009 - 5:24pm
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By Doug Cunningham

Building trades union workers rallied in Brooklyn Monday to protest non-union labor at a Pratt University construction site. Brian Wangerman is Business Agent for Steamfitters Local 638. He says union construction work economically benefits the entire local economy and Pratt University is making a mistake by building non-union.

[Wangerman]: “We are in the hope that Pratt opens up their doors, negotiates with us. We’re willin’ to work so that it benefits everybody involved."

Wangerman says non-union construction is growing in New York City.

[Wangerman 2]: “There are a lot of people making a lot of money off the backs of a lot of other people. Particularly in the residential area - all these high-end condos. It's really shameful that people sell condos at $1.3 million, and yet we deal with their workforce who tell us they make 10 bucks an hour. They're illegal immigrants, they have no health coverage, they have no safety regulations."