NYC Must Build RESPONSIBLY
tell Investors To Do The Right thing!
Watch The Video
UPDATES:
The Developers for the Washington/ Clarkson Street Development – Zeckendorf, Atlas Capital, and Baupost – have terminated their contract with Tishman and replaced them with Suffolk.
Suffolk is based in Massachusetts; John Fish is the President. Representatives from the Cement & Concrete Workers District Council LECET have been in contact with several executives regarding the Concrete Superstructure bidding, and they have all the information through the developers. More coming soon…
What’s happening here?
A new cast-in-place reinforced concrete superstructure located in the West Village of Manhattan is currently up for bid and a concrete superstructure contract will be awarded soon. The full list of bidders is undecided, but may include some of the city’s worst contractors. Hedge fund investors The Baupost Group, Atlas Capital Group, and The Blackstone Group must be made aware of this!
About the project
The project is a full city block condominium development located at 180 Clarkson Street. The development is a collaborative effort between Zeckendorf Development, Atlas Capital Group, and The Baupost Group. It is set to be 937,000+ square feet total.
What’s The problem?
The project is soliciting bids from several non-union contractors who have histories of skirting around basic labor laws and endangering its workers. We must tell all project investors that 180 Clarkson Street is in danger of being built using bad contractors, (essentially construction sweatshops). These potential bidders are notorious for putting their profits before the livelihoods of the hardworking men and women who build in NYC.
Meet The Potential Bidders:
RNC Industries
RNC’s owner, Richard Tonyes, has twice pleaded guilty to felonies directly related to work in the construction industry.
Tonyes was released in 2015 from an 11 month sentence for felony tax evasion. In addition, RNC has paid millions of dollars to settle civil cases alleging the company cheated union benefit funds.
In 2014, workers filed a lawsuit against RNC for failing to pay overtime. RNC settled in 2018 agreeing to pay 10 workers $210,000.
Most recently in 2021 a group of employees filed a lawsuit alleging they were cheated out of overtime- the case is pending.
Highbury Concrete
Highbury has faced four separate lawsuits for failing to pay overtime to its employees.
In June 2017, eight workers filed a lawsuit against Highbury for failing to pay overtime. In an October 2018 settlement, Highbury agreed to pay $625,000.00.
Another lawsuit alleging Highbury’s failure to pay overtime was filed in May 2018, and Highbury agreed to pay $35,000 to one employee.
In February 2017, a separate group of workers brought a class action case against Highbury for failing to pay them overtime. On November 22, 2022, a settlement agreement was approved where Highbury has agreed to provide a gross settlement payment of up to $2,000,000.00 for affected workers. Final settlement approval is scheduled for June 26, 20238.
In June 2019, another worker filed an overtime violation suit against Highbury.
The case settled for $27,500 in September 2020.
Trident General Contracting
Trident was formed in 2018 after its predecessor company, ACS, entered bankruptcy proceedings. ACS entered bankruptcy after a Manhattan federal court judge found ACS to be an unlawful alter ego of the union contractor Navillus, created to avoid Navillus’s obligations to union benefit funds.
In 2017, a Manhattan federal court judge ordered Navillus to pay $76 million to union funds to cover benefit fund contributions it had avoided through its alter-ego scheme. Navillus declared bankruptcy as a result of this judgment, causing ACS to go out of business and re-emerge under the name Trident.
Our Coalition
We represent the thousands of union construction laborers whose jobs are being threatened by this unfortunate industry shift that favors the lowest bidding contractor. Many of these bidders are shady, negligent, non-union contractors who care nothing for the health and welfare of the workers.
why You Should Care
When developments like 180 Clarkson Street choose contractors like those listed above, it creates a domino effect in the industry, a race straight to the bottom, essentially. NYC construction projects become cheap and dangerous, with no hope for good pay, benefits, and safety standards for any of its workers!
what You Can Do
By signing the above petition and sharing this story on social media, you are standing shoulder to shoulder with every working-class member of the NYC construction industry who has had enough with bad investors and negligent contractors! It’s time to tell these big corporations that they cannot do whatever they want with the livelihoods of NYC’s workers!
IN THE PRESS
The Nightly, University of Washington Newspaper
“non-unionized contractors have more incidents and deaths than unionized contractors.”
Ed McWilliams, NY Cement & Concrete Workers District Council, LIUNA
“It IS not sustainable and there IS no social liability.”
Wall Street Journal, Private Equity