525 Clinton Avenue Fallout: Rats and Findings of Fault
When a non-Union worker was killed in a scaffolding accident three weeks ago at 525 Clinton Avenue, it didn’t take long for the rat to come out to play. “Untrained and unskilled workers lead to an unsafe workplace, shoddy workmanship and a lower quality finished product,” reads the flyer handed to us by the Local…
When a non-Union worker was killed in a scaffolding accident three weeks ago at 525 Clinton Avenue, it didn’t take long for the rat to come out to play. “Untrained and unskilled workers lead to an unsafe workplace, shoddy workmanship and a lower quality finished product,” reads the flyer handed to us by the Local 79 organizer tending the rat from the comfort of his pick-up truck. Turns out the guy might have a point: DOB is announcing its findings today that, in addition to lacking a permit, the supported scaffold (i.e. one built from the ground up) was not designed to code; in addition, the scaffold company has yet to provide documentation showing that the workers who assembled the scaffold had the proper training. On a related note, DOB is announcing this morning a new initiative to focus on scaffold and sidewalk shed safety.
BREAKING: Worker Killed at 525 Clinton Avenue [Brownstoner] GMAP P*Shark
Development Watch: 525 Clinton Avenue Check-In [Brownstoner] DOB
Development Watch: 525 Clinton Avenue [Brownstoner]
525 Clinton Avenue Looking Good [Brownstoner]
525 Clinton Gets Its Glass On [Brownstoner]
Tower Rising at 525 Clinton Avenue [Brownstoner]
“Stand outside the realty office selling those condos and hand out flyers to people who enter, telling them somebody died at this building and the workers were not provided with a safe work environment due to developer’s cost-cutting.”
“Paulie” is not going to like this!
Generally, the carpenters represent workers in the scaffolding industry – Local 1536 represents employees working for Regional, UBS, Atlantic, etc. While the NYCDC of C has some problems, I think you will find that most of the members of Local 1536 are pretty satisfied with their union and their representation. It’s one the most dangerous construction jobs in the city (see ironworking as well) and I think you would be hard pressed to find someone who actually does scaffolding for a living who thinks they are safer on a non-union job. Just my opinion…..
Sorry about the double post.
THE DOB IS AN OBSOLETE USELESS MURDERING MACHINE.
From MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, we hired a fantastic exterior company to do our brownstone work; small, family owned, non union. They worked for six months without any incidents; at least ten guys on the job. EACH GUY HAD A PERMIT TO BE ON THE SCAFFOLDS. They each wore harness, hard hats, etc…. The owner of the company told me during this time that he was constantly getting summonses on other jobs for stooopid shit like “the (2-step step) ladder was sideways, not front to the (2 foot) wall”– $10,000 fine. The owner was trying to fight the DOB but basically, the inspectors know where they get their money: the little jobs, the little companies.Going after a big construction company doesn’t reap as much profit, per visit, per court case.)
On the other hand, my family is in construction management. My father works with unions all the time, and in general likes it because the jobs are run tighter. However, the couple of tragedies he’s experienced came from Bovis, a huge construction company (Union). And I’m not even talking about the firemen who died at the ground zero site.
It has SO MUCH MORE to do with how cities inspect and how they try to profit from construction. NY DOB is a KILLLER.
THE DOB IS AN OBSOLETE USELESS MURDERING MACHINE.
From MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, we hired a fantastic exterior company to do our brownstone work; small, family owned, non union. They worked for six months without any incidents; at least ten guys on the job. EACH GUY HAD A PERMIT TO BE ON THE SCAFFOLDS. They each wore harness, hard hats, etc…. The owner of the company told me during this time that he was constantly getting summonses on other jobs for stooopid shit like “the (2-step step) ladder was sideways, not front to the (2 foot) wall”– $10,000 fine. The owner was trying to fight the DOB but basically, the inspectors know where they get their money: the little jobs, the little companies.Going after a big construction company doesn’t reap as much profit, per visit, per court case.)
On the other hand, my family is in construction management. My father works with unions all the time, and in general likes it because the jobs are run tighter. However, the couple of tragedies he’s experienced came from Bovis, a huge construction company (Union). And I’m not even talking about the firemen who died at the ground zero site.
It has SO MUCH MORE to do with how cities inspect and how they try to profit from construction. NY DOB is a KILLLER.
If the unions are not allowing more workers to join mostly because they don’t want hispanic and caribbean workers then they should be SHUT DOWN. It’s illegal to do that, period.
There are other options to helping illegal workers if people cared to do so. Sites where illegal workers are working without sufficient protective gear and equipment should be picketed. Stand outside the realty office selling those condos and hand out flyers to people who enter, telling them somebody died at this building and the workers were not provided with a safe work environment due to developer’s cost-cutting.
Hitting somebody’s profits is the only way things get done in this country. It’s all about the money. Talking to them about ethics gets you nowhere.
MM = spot on.
Trade unions need to open up their membership, so that many of these now non-union workers can join. The unions need to wake up and smell the coffee – construction is now very much an Hispanic, Caribbean and Asian job force, and is no longer the sole provenance of ethnic white workers. If they continue to keep these workers out, they will be obsolete and irrelevent. If they continue to suck the money from their people, in terms of dues and fees, they will defeat their purpose.
Developers and builders need to stop balancing “acceptable losses” against total profit, and hire union workers, or at very best, spend the money to make sure they train non-union workers sufficiently. They need to screen workers better, instead of just hiring them because they are cheap, possibly illegal, and won’t complain when they get screwed. A desperate worker will agree to do anything in order to feed his family, including dangling from 30 stories up. If he had a union at his back, he could insist on safety standards and not lose his job.
“Granted, many of the trade unions are now bloated with cronyism, racism, sexism, and self service in the head offices”
the only part of your post that I agree with.