Bricks Object To Non-Union Masonry At VP Biden's Office

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

It's the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, and it's where Vice President Biden has his office, along with many other White House officials. The Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers union (BAC) found out recently that despite all the Obama administration's rhetoric about providing decent, green, union jobs, the General Services Administration (GSA) has awarded a masonry restoration project at the building to a non-union contractor. "We're in the middle of the biggest recession since the great depression and president Obama has spoken forcefully about the need to create good jobs with good benefits," says BAC Local 1's Raymond Keen, "So why did the President's administration give this major contract to a company that doesn't provide good benefits and pays its employees far less than responsible local contractors?" Keen told Union City yesterday afternoon that after meeting with BAC President James Boland on Tuesday, GSA representatives have committed to working more closely with organized labor in the future and have increased the workers' pay and benefits, but not to the levels the BAC says are appropriate. - ILCA Insider Newsletter, with additional reporting by Adam Wright; photo: members and staff of BAC Local 1 hand billing outside the EEOB; photo by Tony Garcia, BAC Art Director