Union protesters press Porter Square Panera Bread

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/business/x65589991/Union-protesters-press-Porter-Square-Panera-Bread#axzz1HhghaUcg

By Emily Cataneo
Wicked Local Cambridge
Posted Mar 25, 2011 @ 10:43 AM
Last update Mar 25, 2011 @ 11:08 AM

Cambridge —

Union protesters are taking on the new Panera Bread in Porter Square.

Members of the Local 40 of the International Brotherhood of Carpenters are protesting because out-of-state, non-union construction workers are renovating the Panera opening in the Porter Square Shopping Center.


Photo by Emily Cataneo
Union protesters are taking on the new Panera Bread in Porter Square.


Three members of the Local 40 protested in front of the new Panera location on Wednesday morning, holding a banner stating “Panera Bread is Unfair to Workers.” The union members plan to protest daily in Porter Square until either the construction job is done or Conboy and Mannion, the New York-based contractor that Panera hired, agrees to use union workers.

“Our purpose is to get these companies that build in our cities up to proper standards, and have them pay proper wages and benefits,” said Richard Aideuis of North Cambridge, a protester and a member of the union. The workers are currently paid $15 per hour, while union workers’ wages start at $37.25 per hour.

Joseph Powers, the business representative of Local 40, called the company’s decision to use non-union workers an “insult to the community,” and said that these workers are not receiving the numerous benefits that members of the IBC enjoy.

Read more: Union protesters press Porter Square Panera Bread - Cambridge, Massachusetts - Cambridge Chronicle http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/archive/x65589991/Union-protesters-press-Porter-Square-Panera-Bread#ixzz1HrFiG4T1


FULL story and video at link.

[theoldman]

1. $74,000 a year is not a bad starting wage.

I would like to hear the rest of the story.

[Rincewind]

2. It's not the starting wage.

It's the Journeyman wage, apprentices start out a lot lower. I am a retired union carpenter,and I can tell you that most construction workers don't work 52 weeks a year. A lot of construction work is outside, and you lose a lot of time from bad weather. Plus, when the economy goes south, construction is one of the first things to go down the tubes, and one of the last to recover. There are some people who get on steady with a contractor that can keep them working year around, but even being a regular employee doesn't mean you never lose time due to weather, or the company not having any work. In 36 years, the most hours I ever got in one year was around 1800 hours. Most years, it was less, some years, a lot less, sometimes just 2 or 3 weeks work in a year.