Union Rally for Jobs Held in Asbury Park
Coaster Photo
Union workers and their supporters turned out for a rally in Asbury Park Saturday.
By ANDREW CANGIANO
A rally of local unions attracted approximately 1,000 supporters to the Asbury Park beachfront Saturday morning.
The rally was organized by the unions, who believe they are being shut out of city projects.
Many different trades were represented, including laborers, electricians, carpenters, and pipe fitters, said Guy Peterson, the business agent for electricians Union Local No. 400, who attended the rally.
Overall, Peterson said the rally was a success.
We got peoples attention of whats going on, he said.
The rally was attended by a number of state and local officials, including City Councilman James Keady, local green party activist Brian Unger, State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech, State Building and Construction Trades Council President William T. Mullen, and Assemblyman Sean Kean.
In his address to the large crowd, Keady explained why he believes union labor needs to be an important presence in the citys redevelopment.
As these buildings are constructed, if it isnt union labor constructing them, then the owners and contractors are going to pay the lowest possible wages, Keady said.
If it isnt union labor constructing them, then when workers get injured on the job, they will have no health benefits. If it isnt union labor constructing them then workers can be fired indiscriminately.
Jim Colfer, president of the building trades of Monmouth and Ocean County, said city residents, union and non-union, have had trouble getting jobs on projects in Asbury Park because developers are hiring illegal immigrants and bringing in workers from out of the county and state.
The purpose of the rally, Colfer said, was to let citizens of Asbury Park know local unions are working to get them jobs, as well as to encourage city residents to join unions.
We needed the rally because no ones been paying attention to what we have to say, he said.
Asbury Park Deputy Mayor James Bruno said the unions requirements that a member have a drivers license and a clean criminal record would eliminate many city residents from the get-go of being able to join a union.
Through ads published in this newspaper this summer the electricians union has been trying to raise awareness about whom developers are hiring to work on projects in the city.
In the ads, the union has criticized developer Westminster Communities for not hiring union workers for its Wesley Grove project.
Some are illegal and the rest of them theyre bringing in from out of state or North Jersey, Peterson said regarding who developers are hiring to do building projects in the city.
Peterson said the North Beach project by Paramount Homes is the only union project in the city.
Colfer said officials from Metro Homes have said the Esperanza, one of the developers three condominium complexes being constructed on the citys beachfront, will not be a union project.
However, union workers have been hired to do pile driving for the early stages of its construction, Colfer said.
Peterson said one of the major themes stressed by speakers at the rally, which included the states assistant commissioner of labor, Leonard Katz, and a representative of congressman Frank Pallone, Jr., was the need for project-labor agreements on local building projects.
Wyatt Earp, president of the AFL-CIO of Monmouth and Ocean County, and one of the speakers at the rally, said project-labor agreements provide employees with fair wages, health insurance, and educational components.
He said these agreements could ensure that local residents would be hired to work on projects within the city.
Its been proven, it works well, Earp said about the use of project-labor agreements. The projects come in on time, they come in on budget…theres no problem, theres no issues.
Bruno said that the City Council does not have the right to force developers in Asbury Park to hire union workers and that any such agreement must be worked out between developers and the unions.
We dont own the rights to that job, Bruno said about the condominium project being undertaken by Metro Homes. We cant tell Metro Homes that they have to go union.
He said that the developer understands the possible repercussions, such as picket lines, for not reaching union demands and that developers such as Metro Homes must negotiate with local unions to reach an agreement.
Thats why they have to negotiate and come up with some type of plan and hopefully they can work things out, Bruno said.
The deputy mayor noted that the success of the redevelopment projects in the city will determine the future of Asbury Park.
They lose, we lose, he said. They fail, we fail.
Rather than temporary employment on local building projects, the city is looking for year round, permanent jobs, for its residents, which Bruno said will come as a result of the hotels and retail establishments the city has planned as part of its redevelopment.
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