The Trades Council is circulating a petition asking that “Cornell University, on any future student housing project, require the construction be performed by local skilled trade’s workers, companies, and vendors.” So far, it has 723 signatures.Ībout 660 students were impacted by delays to construction. Cornell did not respond to questions about whether developers for the East Hill Village project would be required to hire local union labor. According to the project’s website, EdR has been selected as a member the development team. In response to demonstrators, Opperman wrote, “As our more than 9,000 local employees and their families know, and the companies that benefit from our more than $190 million in annual local purchasing and construction spending understand, the answer to ‘does Cornell care’ is an unequivocal ‘Yes!’”Ĭornell is in the planning stages on another major residential development, the East Hill Village. Opperman’s statement does not address why EdR was not contractually obligated to hire local labor on the Maplewood project. Mary Opperman, vice president and chief human resources officer, in a statement said Cornell’s upcoming North Campus Residential Expansion will make “maximum use of our skilled and highly valued local labor community.”Īccording to the statement, “The developer of this estimated $200 million project has been contractually required to comply with Cornell’s standing agreement with the Building & Construction Trades Council.” Related: Cornell releases details on 2,000 bed expansion “We’ve successfully built every other facility for (Cornell), including many that were more challenging than this one,” he said. Marsh said local trades workers should be preferred because they have proven their ability to handle difficult projects on tight timelines. According to LeChase, OSHA did not cite the company for any violations. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Syracuse office investigated a safety complaint at Maplewood in Dec. The Does Cornell Care website features photos and alleges unsanitary and unsafe conditions at the work site. The Trades Council further alleges that the use of out-of-state workers hurt the quality of Maplewood construction. Though EdR and LeChase confirmed that they worked primarily with New York state contractors and sub-contractors, they did not specify how many workers on the project were local residents. “They left a lot of workers behind,” he said. Marsh estimates that about 10 percent of workers were local union members. The “Does Cornell Care” website cites the number of out-of-state license plates in the construction workers’ parking lot as evidence that many workers on site were not from the area. The Trades Council questions how many workers on site were local residents, however. “With every project, we work with our general contractor and strive to use as much local labor as possible,” Wack said. LeChase hired “one out-of-state subcontractor directly,” Miglioratti said.Ĭraig Wack, public relations coordinator for EdR, said the company chooses general contractors based on several factors, including their ability to employ local labor. Bid selection was based on price and fit for the project.” Union and non-union contractors were both afforded the exact same opportunities to participate in the project. Jennifer Miglioratti, Director of Corporate Communications for LeChase, said via email, “LeChase solicited bids from, and hired, both union and non-union companies for the Maplewood project. Reacting to the choice at a June 2016 Ithaca Town Planning Board meeting, Marsh acknowledged that LeChase often works closely with local trades. “There were quite a few local jobs taken off the grid by how that deal was structured,” Marsh said.ĮdR hired the firm LeChase Construction as the project’s general contractor. EdR was not bound by any agreement to hire local workers. ![]() If Cornell had developed the site itself, according to Marsh, the university would have been required to use union labor. Cornell contracted an out-of-state company, EdR Collegiate Housing, to build and manage the apartment complex.Ĭornell did not require EdR to hire local union workers for construction.ĭavid Marsh, secretary and treasurer for the Trades Council, said Cornell circumvented a longstanding collective bargaining agreement by leasing the development to EdR. The Trades Council’s primary complaint is that the Maplewood project did not employ enough local workers. This week, leaders from the Tompkins-Cortland Building and Construction Trades Council put the project’s use of out-of-state and non-union workers in the spotlight. Related: Maplewood delay will affect over 100 students
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