Dear Colleagues and List Members,
I am writing to you as a spokesperson of the Simon's Rock College of Bard-Student Labor Alliance. As you will see in the following flyer and on our web site [www.simons-rock.edu/~eatonak/labor] that we are in the midst of resolving a very disconcerting unfair labor practice. As of today, no one (i.e. the general contractor Mullaney, the sub-contractor MetroNational, and Simon's Rock College of Bard administration) is taking any responsibility for paying more than $25,000 of unpaid wages for the 7 construction workers who worked very hard to build a new $16 million performance center on our campus.
Our Faculty Senate overwhelmingly passed the following motion to facilitate the resolution of this issue on March 24, 2004. So far, there is no response from the administration:
"We strongly urge the administration of Simon's Rock to use its leverage with Mullaney Construction Co. - especially in light of the contract for building the new Student Union - to ensure that the dispute concerning workers' unpaid wages in the construction of the Performing Arts Center be resolved."
We ask your support by lending your name to publicize in our events. If you support our efforts, send a blank email reply with your email address (please do not change the "subject"). If you do not want us to use your affiliation or there is a change in it please indicate that.
Thank you very much for your forthcoming support.
Ahmet Tonak Professor of Economics
P.S. Please post this in other relevant email lists.
------------------------------------------------------------------- One of our recent flyers:
UNPAID WAGES MUST BE PAID!
As we all know, the inauguration of the new performing arts center will be celebrated by a series of events this May, including a gala dinner and concert for which tickets are being sold at $5,000 - $10,000 per table.
As we all also know, this new building was built by unjustly exploited laborers (part of the story was covered in the Berkshire Eagle, October 8-10, 2003). Moreover, the following workers, who often worked 70-hour weeks to complete the building on schedule, are still owed $25,693 in unpaid wages:
1) T. Brownlow (Crew Leader) 2) M. Stevens 3) B. Miller 4) R. Leach 5) B. O'Dell 6) G. Leach 7) S. Carey
While there is no dispute that these wages are unpaid, none of the parties involved is willing to take the responsibility for them. We believe that Simon's Rock College has the ethical - if not legal - responsibility to ensure that these individuals are paid for their work in constructing our performing arts center. The financial costs are relatively small; in contrast, the ethical costs of inaction are large.
Both Mullaney Corporation, the general contractor, and the Simon's Rock administration admit that these are unpaid wages. They argue, however, that they are not responsible for paying these wages because the workers were hired through a subcontractor, Metronational. It is Metronational, therefore, that is responsible for paying these wages, they say.
But both the administration and Mullaney already recognize that Metronational engages in unfair business practices: Mullaney has described them as "awful, they're skimming" and Simon's Rock's John Verones described Metronational's practices as "disconcerting ... not aboveboard."
In light of this, merely asserting that Metronational is responsible for these unpaid wages or suggesting that these workers should take their case to Metronational, is an irresponsible stance. The building belongs to Simon's Rock, and it is Simon's Rock's contractor Mullaney which brought Metronational to our campus. Therefore, they should share the responsibility of securing funds to cover unpaid wages of these workers.
Anyone interested in learning more about these issues and would like to become involved in correcting this situation should visit our web site: www.simons-rock.edu/~eatonak/labor.
Concerned Faculty and Students for Fair Labor Contact: Ahmet Tonak -- [EMAIL PROTECTED]
