A large inflatable rat, a common symbol in labor protests, arose on the grounds of the Montauk Playhouse Community Center early Wednesday morning.
Darryl Harris, a delegate of Laborers Local 66, alleges that the union and its members have been purposefully kept off the job and threatened with police action by the general contractors.
“We got a letter from Island Structure Engineering,” Mr. Harris said, “saying if 66 or the Laborers, or anyone in the organization are on the job they’ll call the police and escort them off the job.”
A group from the Laborers Local 66 union was sitting beside the giant rat with signs reading “Shame on Island Structure Engineering,” and “Shame on Crossroad Construction Corps,” the general contractors on the job.
Their demands are simple: They want representation and work on the job site, which they allege they are being denied.
“We just want some representation on the job because it's a prevailing wage job and they pushed us out,” Mr. Harris said. “They’re saying the trades are going to do their own cleanup which is not good.”
According to the National Alliance for Fair Contracting, New York's prevailing wage law "ensures that contractors and subcontractors on public works projects pay their employees the appropriate prevailing wage, as established by the Department of Labor. These requirements apply to all parties involved in a public work contract, regardless of whether they have a direct contractual relationship with the public entity."
Both the Montauk Playhouse Community Center Foundation and Scott DiBerardino, the project manager from Island Structures Engineering, were contacted for comment. Both declined and deferred to the Town of East Hampton, which owns the building and is taking the lead on the project.
The town “supports organized labor and respects the union’s right to express their concerns,” the town said in a statement released by the supervisor's public information officer, Patrick Derenze.
“The Montauk Playhouse project . . . which has been largely constructed by union labor, is fully compliant with prevailing wage and Wicks Law requirements, and all aspects of the bidding process have been handled in strict accordance with state law. We are committed to completing this important community project on schedule, with the utmost respect for the union workers whose expertise, dedication, and labor have been integral to its success."
“If you’re an electrician you do electrician’s work, plumbers put pipes together, carpenters put up sheetrock and spackle and do what they do. Laborers come in behind and clean up. It’s simple,” Mr. Harris said.
Mr. Harris said the laborers are willing to stick it out until demands are met, and may even move their protest to East Hampton Town offices.
