Some local construction workers are participating in International Workers’ Day by picketing area developments that they say are using non-unionized labor.
The itinerary appears to include the new 8 Octavia condos at Haight, per these photos snapped earlier this morning by readers Ron and Peter (thanks, guys).
The organizing group calls itself “United Rank And File,” and stresses that it is made of workers acting outside of their official unions to bring attention to their situation. Specifically, they say developers and contractors in San Francisco are undercutting wages during this construction boom by subcontracting non-union workers. The protests are singling out sites that are “2 Gate Jobs,” meaning one gate for union labor and another for non-union.
As part of this unofficial effort, the group is taking a loose approach to picketing for the first stage of its strategy today. Any centrally-located development that is using the two-gate system could be a target, although 8 Octavia and other Hayes Valley-area buildings are not singled out by name.
“We will have a flag at each location that we need to be at,” their web site says about the route this morning. “We plan to have well organized pickets. Please know that we have a process for making decisions at this action should we need to adjust our actions. We will stay at any given location until an outcome has been determined.”
After picketing private sites, they plan to march to the War Memorial Performing Arts Center by 10:40am this morning. “The Herbst building is currently undergoing a complete remodel,” their site says. “They are using the 2Gate System. A nonunion subcontractor is doing around 10 million dollars in work. This is unheard of in downtown San Francisco.”
The marchers will then meet up with the Building Trades Council’s rally at City Hall at 11:30am.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of this protest is that it is more of a classic labor issue, even if it’s set within the context of San Francisco’s great gentrification/housing-supply debate.
The United Rank And File’s description of the problem is worth a read.
Many of us are lucky to have collective bargaining. We look forward to contracts coming up during this building boom. It seems the time has finally come for us to get the raises that we have lacked in the last few years while the cost of living has skyrocketed. We are looking forward to the opportunity to dig out of the financial holes we are in after years of unemployment, losing insurance for our families, losing houses and having to raid our retirement accounts to make ends meet. Now, contractors and developers need us badly and will have to give us a decent raise next contract, right? Maybe not…
Area construction unions have generally been in favor of new developments in San Francisco — even if the workers can’t the afford market-rate condos they’re building, at least they’re getting paid union wages. The group goes on to explain what’s going wrong with that plan.
Historically in San Francisco a vast majority of building has been done by workers who together, through their unions, bargain with all of their employers for a fair and equal wage rate for all of the labor done by their craft. This is still the case but we see other employers winning work contracts in SF at an alarming rate. Building has increased suddenly in San Francisco but it has disproportionately increased for the non-signatory contractors. There is an unprecedented amount of building being done by contractors who do not agree to the standards of pay and conditions that workers have fought for.
We’ll update with any more info as it relates to the neighborhood. In the meantime, we encourage readers to go to the United Rank And File web site for more background on the issues.
