Nearly two months ago, we got a chance to peek inside the historic building once known as the Standard Mill and, later, the Whitney Hotel [video]. The space has undergone an exquisite transformation in those two months. Witness the grand opening of the Whitney Landmark Residences.
Okay, it's more complicated than that. I was expecting this followup video to be a fluffy tour of the luxurious model units, perhaps have a little fun with how out of place I am in such grandiosity. When we arrived there were a number of labor union representatives outside the hotel demonstrating against the labor practices of the developers. As you'll see in the video, their beef with the Whitney is that during the demolition phase, the subcontractor allegedly paid non-union workers $6/hour cash and were not working in safe conditions. The developer claims no knowledge of workers paid in cash, says that OSHA was on-site regularly, and that hiring some non-union labor is an economic necessity.
This is a complicated issue, and I don't pretend to have any expertise. It's certainly worth more investigation. I'm curious to know: Are any of the "unskilled" laborers undocumented immigrants? Is this part of the larger underground immigrant economy?
RAW INTERVIEW FOOTAGE: Alan Kearney, Laborers District Council of MN and ND Michael Roess, Coldwell Banker Burnet / iMetroProperties
Posted by Minnesota Stories on March 27, 2006 02:03 AM
Comments
Great story Chuck. I had watched the first interview with the unfinished Whitney, so I was excited to see how it turned out. A cushy tour would have been good, but the "both sides" interview made it turn out better.
Very interesting.
Alan Kearney of Laborers District Council of MN and ND offered some sharp criticism of the safety conditions at The Whitney job site and he sites The Guthirie and The Carlyle as "Good Developement" and The Whitney as "Bad Developement". In reality the only death that has occured on a job site in Minneapolis in the last 12 months occured at The Carlyle site.
The Business Journal: Worker dies at downtown Mpls. condo site A construction worker died Tuesday after falling down an open shaft while working at a condominium construction site in downtown Minneapolis, according to media reports. The worker's name was not released.
The accident occurred at the site of The Carlyle, a 39-story, 255-unit condo tower near the Minneapolis riverfront at 2nd Street and 3rd Avenue.
I hope death isn't the criteria for whether a workplace is safe or not.
$6 an hour is ridiculous for that work. At least pay the workers a living wage, something closer to $15 an hour for their labor - I doubt much time per day is actually spent "pushing a broom".
I'd like to hear more about good development practices - we have a lot of development going on, it'd be nice to know with each hammer blow and dust bin swoosh that the laborer can feed his or her family and afford a house.
Posted by: Stephen at March 27, 2006 10:07 PM
I have not idea what a subcontractors pays thier employees, however, I am confused by the concept of why paying workers more will help make housing more affordable.
Union shake-down. Nothing more. This is how you push down that 20% non-union portion of construction projects to 10% on the next project. Both sides are doing exactly what they are suppose to do, protect financial interests. Anything outside of this, is merely spin. Fun to watch though. More interesting is that the developer thinks they can get $440 dollars per square foot. Of the 32 units, only 3 are sold. They better start marketing these things to ballers and not artsy white yuppie folks with turtle necks, leased BMW's, and funny plastic buddy holly glasses. That market cannot support the Whitney prices.
Posted by: Mr.X at March 28, 2006 11:21 AM
Union shakedown?
Enjoy your 8 hour day and weekends - brought to you by a union shakedown. If that's shaking down, then bring on some more shakedown.
![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mnstories.com/nav-commenters.gif)
