Tennessee ABC Leader Fired from N.Y. Project, Undocumented Workers Arrested
December 28, 2009
Ernie Hartman, business manager of Elmira, N.Y., Local 139, had long advocated that Chemung County residents and others nearby should be given priority over out-of-state labor in local construction projects.
In mid-October, Hartman’s pleas on behalf of local labor made the headlines with the arrest of seven undocumented workers from Mexico working for a Tennessee electrical contractor on an $88 million warehouse project for CVS. One of the arrested workers is also facing a federal weapons charge.
Walker Electric of Nashville, owned by Mike Walker, president of the Mid-Tennessee chapter of anti-union Associated Builders and Contractors, was fired from the project by contractor Gray Construction of Lexington, Ky.
The undocumented workers were contracted to Walker by Trades Unlimited, a for-profit agency that advertises its “detailed hiring process” in supplying workers in many trades. Trades Unlimited’s founder, chairman and CEO is John Stallworth, First Vice Chairman of the Mid-Tennessee chapter of ABC.
A few days after the arrests of the undocumented workers, seven active Local 139 members and one retiree picketed outside the CVS project waving American flags and holding signs demanding that local labor be used on site. The picketers received thumbs up, coffee and some breakfast food from passersby. Hartman says:
It’s unfortunate it takes something like this to show how employing local labor enhances the financial well-being and tax base of the surrounding community.
The next day, after a meeting with Chemung County’s executive, the general contractor agreed to hire seven local electricians to replace the workers arrested.
On Dec.14, Hartman was notified that signatory contractor Matco Electric was awarded the remainder of the $3 million electrical contract on the warehouse.
