:: rawblogXport ::

:: Monday, March 15, 2004 ::

Breaking tradition - Nonunion jobs shake up historical patterns By Christine Haughney, Crain's New York
Union jobs typically have better safety records. Data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration show that from Oct. 1, 2001, to Sept. 3, 2002, 17 of the 25 deaths on city construction jobs were on nonunion sites.

Union positions also pay more. Gegi Kehliani, an immigrant from the Republic of Georgia, used to work 10-hour days on nonunion construction sites in Manhattan and Brooklyn for $8 an hour. When he joined the concrete laborers union two years ago, Mr. Kehliani tripled his wages, increased his lunch break to 30 minutes and received health benefits.

'I still do my job. I still work hard,' he says. 'But I feel more comfortable.'

For those who don't join unions, the situation is only getting worse, some say. Anthony Pugliese, an organizer for the New York District Council of Carpenters, says that more laborers aren't getting paid and don't have access to basic services, such as bathrooms, at their work sites.

'The goal of a nonunion job is to try to get the most a contractor can get out of a man that day,' Mr. Pugliese says. 'The non-union guys are treated like material.'

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