(Shout out to Local 45 member Sterling, on the bike.)
Please send your photos to: rally524@yahoo.com
Links to rally pictures:
http://goo.gl/epnz9
http://goo.gl/ZvB4J
http://goo.gl/0S9iI
BTEA rally mentioned in City Hall article:
http://www.cityandstateny.com/buildings-department-braces-for-sabotage-in-labor-standoff/Buildings Department Braces For 'Sabotage' In Labor Standoff
By: City Hall
May 26, 2011
The city Buildings Department is bracing for turmoil at construction sites when dozens of collective bargaining agreements expire at the end of next month, Commissioner Robert LiMandri told a City Hall breakfast yesterday.
He said his department will be on high alert as the June 30 deadline nears, and is planning how to navigate picket lines and deal with deliberate destruction by disgruntled workers.
“That’s certainly planning for the worst, and if that happens we’ll have to do that,” said LiMandri, who noted his department has a strong relationship with the city’s district attorneys. “Sabotage is certainly, I’m sure, at the top of every construction manager’s mind, but make no mistake about it: this city is not going to tolerate that kind of behavior.”
[...]
Paul Fernandes, chief of staff at the Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents 100,000 workers, said LiMandri’s remark about potential sabotage was “unfortunate.” He declined to comment on the ongoing talks.
Louis Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers’ Association, which represents 1,200 union contractors in New York City, said it makes sense for the Buildings Department to take precautions to protect the public and be ready for the worst.
“I’m not going to speculate, and would certainly hope that it does not reach those proportions,” Coletti added.
The two sides are at odds over 29 construction contracts covering 60,000 carpenters, sheet metal workers and other laborers. In a sign of the intensity of the clash, hundreds of rowdy protesters rallied outside a swanky BTEA dinner at Cipriani Wall Street this week.
