SCHENECTADY, N.Y.—Union construction workers picketed the partially built Electric City Apartments
complex here on May 23, charging that a nonunion subcontractor on the state-subsidized project is paying workers significantly less than the prevailing wage. The Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters found out that framing subcontractor Bellevue Builders Supply is paying its workers an average of $25 an hour, spokesperson Tony Bianchini said, and only some of them are getting health and retirement benefits. Union scale for journeyman carpenters belonging to Local 291 in Albany is about $31 an hour plus about $21 worth of benefits. “It’s an issue that’s prevalent throughout the country,” Bianchini told the Schenectady Daily Gazette. “It’s not a union-nonunion issue. The workers are getting paid less than they should be.” The state’s Empire State Development Corp. gave the $20 million project, intended to revitalize part of the city’s downtown, a $1.2 million grant in 2015. Read more
