Carpenters Local 118 in New Hampshire recently announced that is has endorsed the candidacy of former state senator Maggie Hassan for Governor. The affiliate of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters was the first union to endorse her campaign. She will face fellow former state senator Jackie Cilley in a Democratic primary to replace retiring incumbent Democratic Governor John Lynch.
“There is too much at stake for any of us to sit on the sidelines in this election. We need to support a leader who can win in November and that leader is Maggie Hassan,” said Brother Joe Donahue. “We’ve worked with many candidates and public officials over the years and Maggie’s records as a State Senator and Senate Majority Leader is second to none in demonstrating a firm commitment to New Hampshire’s working families.”
“Maggie is a strong and consistent advocate for the issues important to working people in New Hampshire: protecting workers’ rights to collectively bargain, standing up against attempts to make New Hampshire a so-called “right to work” state, and increasing the minimum wage.”
“I’m honored to have earned the support of the Carpenters,” said Hassan. “They represent some of the best and brightest trades people in our state and I’m excited to have them on board our growing campaign. I’m also proud to have stood with them in their ongoing efforts to prevent the abuse of workers in the construction industry.”
Carpenters who were cheated of tens of thousands of dollars in wages reached a settlement with Capstone Development and Cottage Builders yesterday to receive their pay. The companies are the owners and developers of the “Cottage of Durham,” an upscale housing project where the carpenters were employed. It will serve students attending the University of New Hampshire.
The carpenters solicited help in getting their pay after their employer, Builders Construction Services of Alabama, refused to pay them and then fired them and evicted them from company-provided housing when they asked for their wages.
The Carpenters union and local church, student and community groups supported the carpenters, holding a high profile march and demonstration last week. The event garnered significant local and regional media attention (link) that put Capstone under a public spotlight and raised questions about other troubles the Alabama-based company has had with college housing projects, including one in Connecticut.
“We’re happy that these carpenters are finally going to be paid,” said Joe Donahue a representative of the Carpenters Union in New Hampshire. “Wage theft is a real problem in the construction industry right now. It drives down industry standards and drives qualified people out of the industry. Capstone and other developers and general contractors need to be held accountable for the subcontractors they hire. They should implement better controls and have severe penalties for members of their building teams who break the law.”
Union carpenters will join with church, student and community groups to hold a news conference today at 3pm at the Community Church of Durham (NH) at 17 Main Street to release information about serious violations of state and federal law--including non-payment of wages--at the "Cottages of Durham." The "Cottages of Durham" is a new student housing development for students of the University of New Hampshire. It is being developed by Capstone Development/The Cottages of Durham.
Construction workers at the Cottages of Durham describe multiple and flagrant violations of state and federal labor law.
These workers say that they worked long hours for many weeks without pay. When they complained about nonpayment of their wages, they were terminated and evicted from their housing.
Union carpenters stand in solidarity with these exploited workers and demand that Cottages of Durham/Capstone Development promptly pay these workers what they are owed in wages and overtime.
The Nashua Telegraph yesterday published a piece by Mark Mackenzie, President of the New Hampshire AFL-CIO calling for a New Year's resolution to help workers in 2012. The piece was a good summary of what workers want and deserve, but aren't gettingin today's America. Click through to read the piece and consider sharing it with others.
Right to work supporters are planning a major event in Concord on Wednesday to coincide with a vote on Right to Work legislation for New Hampshire. There are rumors that Republican Presidential Candidates will attend this rally.
We have beaten back this efforts before and need to do it again. But we need to ensure that our voices are heard and our faces are seen. Please join us Wednesday at 8am in front of the State House for a demonstration in support of workers, in support of unions and against Right to Work.
Again, that’s this Wednesday, November 30 at 8am in front of the State House in Concord. Thank you.
A New Hampshire commission established to consider and make recommendations on existing and potential new business regulations will include the voice of union carpenters. Joe Donahue, a member of Local 118 and employee of the New England Carpenters Labor Management Program was appointed by New Hampshire Governor John Lynch to the "Commission to Study Business Regulations in New Hampshire," a body established by legislative action earlier this year.
The commission will "study business regulations in New Hampshire, the impact they have on employment growth and business profitability, and the costs and benefits associated with the current regulatory environment. The goals of the commission shall be to:
(a) Review New Hampshire’s business oversights that fall under the umbrella of labor and workforce regulations.
(b) Review New Hampshire’s business oversights that fall under the umbrella of environmental and construction/permitting regulations.
(c) Identify potential reforms that could be made to regulations cited above, and develop legislation for the 2012 session to accomplish those reforms."
Donahue has extensive experience in political and legislative issues relating to the construction industry in New Hampshire and has been a key player in the efforts to improve enforcement, particularly relating to the issue of the misclassificaiton of workers.
Still unable to muster the votes to override a veto by Governor John Lynch, New Hampshire Speaker of the House William O'Brien has put off until a special session after the summer any effort to pass so-called "Right to Work" legislation.
O'Brien, a Republican, had promised a swift override, but did not deliver scheduled votes on several occasions. He may struggle to find the votes in the fall, as well, according to one Republican quoted in a Wall Street Journal article today:
"Lee Quandt, a GOP House member from Exeter, N.H., voted against the bill. "New Hampshire is doing very well without it," he said, noting the state unemployment rate is 4.8%. He said many of the state's 63,000 union members, including many police and firemen, vote Republican.
"You don't pick up money and support by sticking it to thousands and thousands of Republicans," Mr. Quandt said. "There's a pretty strong group of Republicans that are not budging."
Residents and workers in New Hampshire or those interested in the state or the construction industry, would do well to follow NHCarpenters on Twitter. Today, he's providing live, blow-by-blow updates on the progress of hearings relating to expanded gaming in the state. NHCarpenters is also a regular source of information on what's going on with carpenters--union and nonunion--in the industry and how contractors are behaving.
Even if you do not use Twitter, you can visit pages of those who do to see what they're up to. Use the link above to see current and past posts.
The New Hampshire Senate voted yesterday by a 14-10 margin to expand gaming to six locations, which would include existing race tracks and new casinos.
The bill will now head to the House, where it will face a stiff challenge.
In addition to the many construction and permanent jobs that would be created, expanded gaming is expected to have a huge financial benefit for the state. The licenses for slot machines could generate an initial $200 million. License fees for facilities that want to offer table games would generate an additional $10 million each. Other area businesses would also receive a direct benefit of additional visitors.
With many states facing widening budget gaps and demand for job creation, decision-makers are weighing expanded gaming in the form of casinos or slot machines. Though gaming has expanded significantly in recent decades—most notably at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut—many states have kept gambling limited to state-run lotteries or scratch tickets.
But those limits are expected to come down soon and the result would be increased state revenue and badly needed construction and permanent jobs.
In New Hampshire, the Senate Finance Committee passed a bill that authorizes up to 17,000 slot machines at six locations, which includes three racetracks and three new casinos.
The bill will now head to the full Senate, where it is expected to have enough support to pass. It will then head to the House of Representatives, where it will face a stiff challenge to pass.
If passed, the licenses for two locations are expected to generate an initial $50 million, which would cover budget shortfall in the Department of Health and Human Services. If locations wanted to offer table games, they would pay an additional $10 million each.
Two more locations would pay $20 million each for slot licenses and $10 million each for table games. The final two locations would pay $10 million each for slots and $10 million each for table games.
Tradesworkers in New Hampshire recently rallied to support a legislative initiative that would expand gaming in the state, creating thousands of jobs and desperately needed revenue for the state.
Carpenters will rally on Thursday, December 17th at 4:00 pm at Bronstein Park in Manchester, NH, located on the corner of Hanover and Beech Street, in the hopes of jump-starting a large project at Manchester’s Job Corps Center.
The project was brought to a halt in November when North Branch Construction, Inc. and the Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. (ABC) filed a bid protest that put an end to the project.
Any and all members are encouraged to attend the rally. Labor leaders, elected officials, youth leaders, and clergy and will be speaking at the event. Hot soup will be served.
For more information about the rally, contact John Jackson at 603-365-0426.
It took years of lobbying and campaigning to get the State of New Hampshire to recognize and address the problem with employee misclassification, specifically within the construction industry. But through the hard work of union carpenters and NERCC staff, progress was made and those labors are now bearing fruit.
The State of New Hampshire has a comprehensive, multi-agency task force set up to share information and more efficiently pursue businesses who misclassify employees as so-called independent contractors. The result is millions of dollars in lost tax revenue, workers put at risk when they are injured on the job or laid off, and a huge disadvantage to honest contractors who are bidding against cheaters.
The Manchester Union Leader published a story about the efforts of the state in today's paper. Members are encouraged to read the story and weigh in with their thoughts in the comments section immediately following the story. Remember these are public forums, so be direct, but respectful of others. Site editors reserve the right to remove comments they find objectionable.
"Anybody driving along Route 1 in Portsmouth NH this morning couldn't help notice a large banner being held in front of the new fire station that is under construction. The message on the banner pointed readers to website called anyonebutkalvin so that local tax payers could find out how their taxes are feeding the underground economy. Can this be true? A publicly funded project that the local taxpayers fund, associated with the ” Underground Economy”? How can this be possible and what exactly does this mean?"
Members in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine last night voted to ratify a new collective bargaining agreement negotiated with contractors working in the three Northern New England states. More than 88% of members voting cast a ballot to accept the three-year agreement, which will provide a $3.90 increase in the total wage and benefit package.
The financial increase is proportionally equivalent to those negotiated in other new agreements throughout the New England Regional Council of Carpenters this year. They will cover anticipated increases in benefit costs over the next three years.
Each year of the agreement $1.30 will be added to the total package, with increases coming in October and April. An immediate increase of $0.65, will be added to hourly pension contributions and $0.02 will be added to wages. The remaining $0.63 from the first and year will be added to hourly health benefit contributions on April 1, 2010. The increases of $1.30 in the second and third year will be divided and allocated by members at a future date.
The agreement also includes language to cover tide work and offshore work, clearly defining shifts, wage and overtime requirements and working conditions for those areas of work.
Bannering activity in Hanover, New Hampshire has caused quite a stir, with threats of a slander lawsuit against the union and forceful denials of wrongdoing. But in the last line of a news article on the activity--triggered by the use of Engleberth Construction hiring Kal-Vin to do drywall—a Kal-Vin spokeswoman is asked directly about the companies use of intermediaries who hire “independent contractors” to do work. Her response? “I can’t speak on that.” Maybe they’ll reconsider the lawsuits?
The project in question is Kendal at Hanover’s renovation of a health center. Last week union organizers showed off a banner near Dartmouth College Green featuring Rebecca Smith, Kendal’s Executive Director and saying she was “Wanted for Supporting Tax Fraud.”
NERCC Organizer Marty Coyle told the Valley News “She need to accept some of the responsibility for what’s happening under her care. It’s very significant, and it’s a huge problem, and we wish she would take it seriously.”
Numerous times union organizers attempted to meet with Smith or her staff to alert them to the problems previously encountered on Kal-Vin jobs. Kal-Vin—and its sister companies GNPB Construction and Northrock Construction—have become infamous in the industry for problems on their jobs, ranging from misclassifying their own carpenters as “independent contractors,” exploitation of immigrant workers and denying employee status and workers comp coverage to an employee who was seriously injured after he fell from scaffolding. The injured worker, Celso Mena, was later ruled to be an employee and awarded comp coverage and lost wages.
Just last week a “Stop Work” order was issued by the Connecticut Department of Labor against Matrix Interior Construction which was hired by Northrock Construction on a Hyatt Place Hotel in Montville. Matrix was found to be without proper worker’s compensation insurance, misrepresenting workers as independent contractors and understating or concealing payroll records. One of the owners of Matrix was arrested earlier this year for dealing large amounts of oxycontin to undercover agents.
Members will be rallying at an assisted living facility in Hanover, New Hampshire on Friday to kickoff a public education campaign in the area about Kal-Vin/GNPB/Northrock Construction. Kal-Vin, one of the names used by the collection of companies run out of the same office, is doing work at Kendal at Hanover, an assisted living facility owned and operated by the Kendal Corporation of Pennsylvania. Bannering by members will continue at the facility daily for several weeks.
Members will meet in front of the facility at 8am on Friday, July 31. The facility is located at Hanover-80 Lyme Road, in Hanover. Directions are as follows:
From Southeast or Northwest of Hanover: Take I-89 to the Lebanon-Hanover/Dartmouth College exit (#18). Turn onto Route 120 North and follow it until the road branches (at the light). Stay on Route 120 (straight ahead) all the way to the intersection with Route 10. Take a right onto Route 10 North and follow it for approximately 2 miles. Kendal at Hanover will be on your left.
From Southwest of Hanover: Take I-91 to that Norwich, VT/ Hanover, NH-Dartmouth College exit (#13). Turn right and cross the bridge into Hanover, which will bring you to the Dartmouth Green. Go left at the far corner of the Green (across from the Hopkins Center) onto Route 10 North. Follow Route 10 North for approximately 2.5 miles from the Green. Kendal at Hanover will be on your left.
If you have any questions or problems please call Marty Coyle or Frank SantaFe.
The Manchester Union-Leader, a New Hampshire newspaper that has generally stuck to its very conservative roots even as the politics of the state become gradually more moderate to liberal, printed a two-story feature in it’s Sunday edition about the dark side of the construction industry in the state.
The stories center around Juan Garcia Hernandez, a "jefe" NERCC Organizers also knew as Juan Garcia. Hernandez supplied immigrant drywall workers for several projects in the region, including projects financed by the federal government through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He was also arrested by state and federal agents on Easter weekend in New Hampshire’s biggest drug bust when he and some others were caught with 100 pounds of cocaine, worth approximately $4 million.
NERCC Organizers have been talking to employees working for Hernandez and other jefes for a long time, finding low wages promised, though sometimes unpaid. Without a concerted Federal effort to limit illegal immigration, several years ago the union decided it would be better served talking to immigrant workers and helping them fight for decent treatment.
The stories highlight how and why things have gotten so bad in the industry. Hutter Construction, who was the general contractor where Hernandez was subcontracted for drywall work, claimed they didn’t know a thing about Hernandez. Though their website brags about their skills as a company that can manage all aspects of a project including "supervision," "job records and reports," and "establish boundaries and benchmarks," they tried to run from any involvement with Hernandez in the story:
"The actual contract was with Granite State Drywall," said Chad Gibson, Hutter's project manager, adding that he was unaware Hernandez was involved in the project. "It would be very hard for us to police three tiers down the line who is hiring them," Gibson said. "It's somewhat beyond our control."
[emphasis added] The two stories can be read online here and here. The Manchester Union-Leader, like many news sites, allows readers to post comments about a story. Reader comments may appear beneath the story with a form for submitting more comments. Members are encouraged to use this feature and express their feelings about stories they read online concerning union and construction issues. Remember these are public forums, so be direct, but respectful of others. Site editors do reserve the right to remove comments they find objectionable.
OSHA has proposed in excess of $118,000 in fines for a Tennessee-based contractor working in Torrington, Connecticut. The fines are the result of "15 alleged repeat and serious violations of safety standards," according to the OSHA press release.
"OSHA's inspection found employees working on scaffolding, in an aerial lift and on the roof at the 492 East Main St. worksite, were exposed to falls of up to 22 feet. The inspection also identified electrical, overhead and chemical hazard communication deficiencies at the worksite." ------ "Specifically, 4 Brothers, which also operates as VP Stucco Co. Inc., was issued six repeat citations, with $84,000 in proposed penalties, for no fall protection for employees in an aerial lift; lack of guardrails on the scaffold; employees climbing the scaffold's side and cross braces; employees not trained to recognize scaffold hazards; no protective helmets; and failing to have the scaffold erected and dismantled under the supervision of a competent person. OSHA cited the company in 2007 and 2008 for similar hazards at worksites in Concord, N.H., and Plainville, Conn.
"The Torrington inspection also resulted in nine serious citations, with $34,650 in proposed penalties, for employees working on a roof without fall protection; an improperly supported scaffold; unguarded walkways between scaffolds; using an ungrounded extension cord to power a mixing drill; and lack of a hazard communication program, training, material safety data sheets, and protective gloves for employees working with cement and hazardous chemicals. OSHA issues serious citations when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from hazards about which the employer knew or should have known.
The U.S. Department of Labor delivered an early stocking full of coal to the Poulins and their trio of cheating companies yesterday, ordering them to pay 99 workers close to $500,000 in back wages and damages as well as a civil penalty of $108,900.
Di-pat Construction, Jerry Construction and Kel-Rick Construction management, owned by Johanne, Jerry and Patrick Poulin respectively were cited for “willful and repeated violations of the [Fair Labor Standards Act] minimum wage, overtime and record keeping provisions.” All three companies are based in New Hampshire and have overlapping operations.
“Our investigation found that these employers were intentionally misclassifying workers as independent contractors instead of ‘employees’ to avoid paying them time-and-a-half for overtime hours they worked,” said George Rioux, director of the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division district office in Boston. “They paid the workers straight time for overtime hours and sometimes did not even pay for all hours worked. As joint employers, they switched workers among the companies in a further attempt to avoid the requirements of the law. Such behavior by any employer will not be tolerated by the Labor Department.”
According to the Department of Labor’s press release “the defendants agreed to entry of the judgment without admitting liability.” As part of the judgment, Jerry Poulin is prohibited from “serving in the future as an owner, director or executive of any business entity covered by the FLSA.”
Manchester Union-Leader reports here. Nashua Telegraph story here.
Two members of New Hampshire Local 118 were killed as the result of an accident on a job in Waltham, Massachusetts on Friday. Union Brothers Peter Marchese and Chris Beste were hurt when a lift they were moving went over. Marchese was killed instantly. Beste passed away Monday evening due to head injuries suffered in the accident.
The members were employed by Lymo Construction of Merrimack, New Hampshire and had been putting exterior metal panels on an AstraZeneca building.
Marchese, 40, was a resident of Nashua, New Hampshire a 4-year member of the UBC, and a longtime employee of Lymo. He leaves behind a wife, and two children: a daughter, age five, and a son, age two. A service was held Tuesday afternoon in Nashua; it was standing room only.
Beste, 30, was also a four year member who was engaged to be married. He was a resident of Manchester, New Hampshire. Marchese was a husband and father to a five year-old daughter and a two year-old son.
Donations for Marchese’s wife and two children should be made out to The Marchese Family Fund and taken to any Bank of America branch or mailed to: Bank of America 356 Daniel Webster Highway Merrimack, NH 03054 Attn: The Marchese Family Fund
Donations for Beste’s family will go to his parents. They should be made out to The Rick and Janice Briggs Assistance Fund and taken to any Bank of America branch or mailed to: Bank of America 356 Daniel Webster Highway Merrimack, NH 03054 Attn: The Rick and Janice Briggs Assistance Fund
New Hampshire Congressman Paul Hodes recently held a meeting in his district to hear about the issue of misclassification in the construction industry. Ashley Smith of the Nashua Telegraph covered the event. Her story, quoted below, can be read here.
Mario Plante owns a contracting company in Hudson, but he turns to Massachusetts for most of his business.
It's nearly impossible to land a job in New Hampshire because too many of his competitors avoid paying workers compensation insurance by illegally classifying their employees as independent contractors, Plante said. That cuts their costs by about 30 percent, making it easier to come in low on every project bid, he said.
The problem of workers in the construction industry being misclassified a independent contractors rather than employees is not only bad for workers, it's bad for honest companies trying to compete. It's also bad for state and federal governments, who are robbed of proper revenue.
Here's an article that will give you and idea of what's going on in New Hampshire.
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