People Against a Casino Town
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Union pickets Florence, Oregon casino construction subcontractor


Tribal police threaten to arrest picketers and impound their vehicles.

 
April 10, 2004
Florence, Oregon

Union Pickets Casino Construction Subcontractor

Members of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 71 picketed at the entrance to the Three Rivers Casino this week to protest the labor practices of one of the subcontractors working on the project.  Jim Anderson, head organizer for the local, said they were at odds with Nutter Underground Utilities Corporation, in charge of excavating the site, over area standards and wages.

"Nutter has a lot of OSHA violations.  They've killed people," Anderson said.  "We have a picket line in front of their Vancouver, Washington headquarters right now over unfair labor practices.  Our problem isn't with the casino.  It's with Nutter."

A construction worker died on a Nutter project when an aluminum shoring fell on him in 1997.  Anderson said a union suit against Nutter alleging intimidation on the picket lines was being brought before the Labor Relations Board.  He said he knew workers for Nutter who were running heavy equipment for $16 an hour without benefits.  "You can't make a living doing that," he said.  "It's hard for our contractors to compete with Nutter because, if you don't have to follow OSHA regulations, National Labor Relations Board regulations or pay prevailing wages, you can underbid anybody."

Jeff Woodside, chief financial officer for Nutter, said he had no idea why the union was picketing them.  "They haven't sent us anything," Woodside said.  "I think we've had a couple of OSHA violations, but we don't have a track record of it.  We checked the records of some of our competitors and we were as good as them or better.  We have one of the best safety records in Washington."  Woodside said that Nutter paid prevailing wage on federal projects.  He said heavy equipment operators for the company - on private jobs - make $17 to $23 per hour.  "The guys on the job down there (at the casino) are getting paid $19 to $22, plus $5 an hour per diem," Woodside said.

Less than 10 picketers showed up Thursday morning, but Anderson said more could be on the way.  He said that, on Wednesday, tribal police had threatened to arrest them and impound their vehicles.  Anderson maintained that the picketers were on state property on the Highway 126 right-of-way and that he wouldn't move until the State Police told him to.  He said the union was testing the waters to see how local police would react. 

"We could do this until the unfair labor practices suit gets settled," he said.  "I've been on these picket lines for 60 days at a time."

Woodside was baffled by the development.  "We've never faced anything like this before with the union." he said.  (4/10/04, Siuslaw News, by Bret Yager)

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