The Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York held its annual Hard Hat Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on May 1 to commemorate the 13 construction workers who died in on-site-related accidents in 2023.
At the altar of the cathedral, officiants laid out 13 hard hats to symbolize each of the workers who died on the job in the past year. Every year, a crowd of union construction workers from the many trades unions in New York City come to pay respects donning their hard hats in a reversal of the church’s normal rules against headwear.
“Everybody here in this cathedral, you are co-creators. You shape the world all the time,” said Father Brian Jordan, addressing his congregation of construction workers. “No roads, no schools, no buildings, no hospitals, no rocketships, no cars, no planes. Nothing could happen without you co-creating in this world.”
In his sermon Rev. Jordan listed the unions that had members who died over the past years as Teamsters Local 282, Laborers Local 78 and Steamfitters Local 638.
But the inclusion of these union workers touched on a more encompassing point that Rev. Jordan made about the union construction industry.
“We have to bridge the gap between immigrant workers and American-grown union workers,” he said.
In New York State, Latino workers are more likely to die on the job and immigrant workers are more likely to be exploited, according to reporting by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health.
“Immigrant workers face exploitation, no benefits, no care,” Rev. Jordan said.
The priest commended Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, who was in attendance, for actively pursuing prosecution against unscrupulous employers for not providing safety protections for immigrant workers. This past year, Gonzalez announced that the operator of a Sunset Park construction company was sentenced to up to four years in prison in connection with the death of a construction worker, Luis Sanchez Almonte — a case that Gonzalez pursued in coordination with the city Department of Investigation and Department of Buildings.
Rev. Jordan implored the union workers present to help immigrant workers organize and join unions. Of the 13 people who died, many were non-union workers who are disproportionately injured and killed at construction sites.
Labor leaders have long pointed out that lower training and safety standards for at non-union sites put these workers at a higher risk. Of the construction workers who died in 2022, NYCOSH found that in New York City 90% were non-union, according to its latest report.
“I want to build that bridge, folks. Union workers we have to bridge the gap for immigrant worker. Organize among us, join us,” Rev. Jordan said.
Local Union 7
