Congratulations on a job well done to eight union carpenters who pitched in a lot of time and effort to help the Rebuilding Together Boston Program on their National Rebuilding Day. The women members, who participated through the Sisters in the Brotherhood program, worked on three sites in the city, adding experienced, skilled hands to the effort.

Rebuilding Together Boston works on an annual basis to repair and renovate the homes of economically disadvantaged homeowners (including the elderly, veterans, families with children, single parent households, the physically challenged and others in need) as well as non-profit-owned facilities (community centers, schools, worship centers, etc.) in the City of Boston. RTB provides its services at no cost to recipients due to the generous support of foundations, corporations, individuals and vendors.

This year's projects on National Rebuilding Day included: six homes in Mattapan, Dorchester and Roxbury; Pine Street Inn Veterans’ housing, a residence for formerly homeless women, and the Nazareth Residence for Mothers and Children.

Members involved in the effort included: Joan Bennett, Local 33; Theresa Haymon, Local 33; Maureen Owen-Ewings, Local 67; Marcia Williams-White, Local 33; Karen Blandino, Local 67; Judy Sullivan, Local 67; Mikey Myles, Local 67 and Liz Skidmore, Local 118.

Workers' Memorial Day
Mourn for the Dead and Fight for the Living
Thursday, April 26, 2012

Seven months after a tornado struck Western Massachusetts in 2011, the storm claimed its final victim. 19-year-old college freshman James Ivanov was on winter break putting up a West Springfield house destroyed by the storm when he fell four stories to his death. That same year, Luis Tenezaca Palaguachi, a 25-year-old roofer, was working on a triple-decker home in New Bedford, when he lost his balance and fell three stories, later dying of his injuries. The employers of these young men failed to provide life-saving fall protection – a grave safety violation that costs lives.

To call attention to needless workplace injuries, illnesses, and deaths, please join MassCOSH for:

Workers Memorial Day Public Commemoration
Thursday, April 26, 2012

12:00 – 1:15 PM
In front of the State House
24 Beacon Street, Boston
(rain location call 315-546-6391 for info.)

There is still time to participate in MassCOSH’s first annual Roses to Remember.

By participating in Roses to Remember, you can honor workers who lost their lives and support efforts to halt unsafe conditions by contributing $15 or more to MassCOSH today. For every donation received, MassCOSH will place a rose at the foot of our Workers’ Memorial Day memorial in your name. Your donation will directly fund MassCOSH’s efforts to ensure that every working person can return home to their loved ones from work healthy and sound each and every day.

Learn more about making a donation by visiting the Mass COSH website by clicking here. 

Donations made by the deadline on April 21 will be recognized with a rose in that donors name. If you have any questions, please contact Membership Coordinator Jeff Newton at jeff.newton@masscosh.org.

The office of Mayor Thomas Menino released the following video about construction projects in the City of Boston, terming 2012 the “Year of the Crane”. The video highlights the $3.4 billion in projects currently under construction along with an additional $14 billion in approved projects.

A prominent article in the Boston Globe today revealed that state investigators are looking into the use and treatment of out-of-state shelter workers in the renovation of rooms at the Boston Copley Marriott. Union carpenters, painters and other union members have been demonstrating twice a week for months at the site against Baystate Interiors, Inc. of Woburn for undermining area standard for carpenters' wages and benefits.

Baystate is renovating several floors of rooms at the pricey downtown hotel owned by Host Hotels and using a California-based company named Installations Plus. Installations is using workers from a missionary shelter in Philadelphia to do work at the Marriott and allegedly violating wage and hour laws to do it.

The workers come from a drug and alcohol rehabilitation shelter in Philadelphia run by Victory Outreach International, an evangelical group based in the San Diego area.

“Our concern is that Host Hotels is trying to take advantage of the recession by bringing in out-of-state laborers to do work that has traditionally been done by local union tradespeople,’’ said Mark Erlich, president of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters.

The investigation is not the first trouble enforcement authorities have found on the site. The subcontractors working on the project--including Installations Plus--have been issued "Stop Work Orders" and paid fines for not having proper workers' compensation insurance.

Click here to view a NERCC-produced video about the demonstrations at the Boston Copley Marriott.

Carpenters have taken to the cobblestones to demonstrate against Dave Matthews Construction twice recently. The company, which is being used to renovate several floors of a building adjacent to historic Faneuil Hall in Quincy Market, does not pay area standard wages and benefits for carpenters. The protest drew the attention of tourists and natives alike, reminding them that the first step toward liberty is exposing injustice.