Over the last month there have been several demonstrations by Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 19 outside Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). You may have heard this at work, on the news or just through the grapevine. A lot of people are probably asking themselves (and others), “Why would a Union protest a hospital that takes care of sick children?” That’s a very natural question, if I didn’t know the reasons why, I would be asking the same thing as well. The purpose of this article is to answer that question (and others); also to dispel any of the rumors or negative assumptions people may have made on why these demonstrations started and have continued. In the interest of transparency, I myself am a twelve year member in good standing of Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 19.
The original posting of this article can be found on Sheet Metal Workers'Local 19 blog, Shear Facts.
Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Local 19 President/Business Manager, Gary Masino and Montgomery County Business Agent, Jerry Gontz. The meeting was in preparation for this article so that any questions members or readers have about this topic could be answered.
Why is Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 19 demonstrating outside of CHOP’s main facility in Philadelphia since that jobsite is 100% union? These protests have nothing to do with that jobsite and have everything to do with the new construction of CHOP’s future Montgomery County facility located in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania where there currently is a picket line against the breaking down of wages and standards.
Roughly a year ago the Philadelphia Building Trades Council met to discuss this upcoming project in King of Prussia and vowed that if the job didn’t go 100% union, then no trade would participate in the project. When Turner Construction was named as the General Contractor at the King of Prussia site, the Local Unions thought they had nothing to worry about since for one, Turner is signed with the Carpenters Union and second, Turner jobsites are traditionally manned with union contractors and workers. Apparently that’s not the case this time.
After the bidding process, Turner Construction hired Worth and Company, a non-union mechanical contractor. In early May Plumbers Local 690 put up at picket line for wages and standards at the construction site for the CHOP King of Prussia facility against Worth, who are paying workers to perform that work far below the standards of Local 690. It was also known that Worth would not be hiring Steamfitters out of Local 420 and Sprinkler Fitters from Local 692 as well. When learning of the Plumbers protest, Sheet Metal Workers Local 19 stated that we would not cross the line; even though (while nothing was official yet) there was a good chance that a Local 19 signatory contractor could have worked as a subcontractor for Worth and Company on that particular job. It was a similar situation for Insulators Local 14 as well. Both Local Unions have stood strong with our Brothers and Sisters in the Building Trades. Each Local Union has been taking turns on the picket line, along with Roofers from Local 30. Business Agent Gontz also told me that Glaziers Local 252 who also gave up work on that site in the interest of solidarity and will be joining the fight as well.
Do you remember that meeting a year ago that the Building Trades had when all the Unions agreed to “throw in” (not participate) the job? Well some leaders in other Locals seem to have foggy memories of said meeting or forget there’s such a thing as solidarity. IBEW (Electricians) Local 380’s leadership claim that since they weren’t at that particular meeting when this was agreed upon, this action doesn’t apply to them. So crossing a picket line set up by trades that have in the past honored their lines does apply to them I suppose. Also leadership from the Operating Engineers Local 542 don’t seem to recall this meeting, neither do the Philadelphia Area Carpenters or Iron Workers 401. Any four of these unions could have shut down the job until CHOP would come to the bargaining table to produce a quality outcome for their Brothers and Sisters in the other Trades. That didn’t happen, but it should have.
"You don’t want to pinch pennies when it comes to peoples' lives, especially childrens'."
After over a month of nothing from CHOP or Turner Construction, Local 19 decided to take this protest to CHOP’s doorstep. For the first demonstration Local 19 was joined by Insulators Local 14 for an informational handbill explaining why those Trades were out there that day and why this fight in Montgomery County should be important to those who work at the facility and the parents of patients at CHOP.
During the most recent protest, Local 19 set up a booth where members handed out toys to kids that were either entering or exiting the hospital, we want to show that even though we are upset with CHOP for their hiring decisions, we support everyone that are patients or work at the hospital. This is not the first time Local Unions have donated toys to the kids at CHOP either. Most recently, around Christmas time the Building Trades had a toy drive for the children who were patients at CHOP and collected three large dumpsters full of toys and $1100 dollars. All this was donated by members of the Philadelphia Building Trades. This all happens because we care about the children being treated at CHOP, their parents, the staff that works inside the hospital and our community here in Philadelphia and the surrounding areas.
There is one common misconception being spread around. Some people think that because Local 19 is holding demonstrations outside a hospital that is dedicated to curing sick children that we are hurting or punishing those kids. Or that we are not sensitive to what those parents of the patients are going through. Not the case in any way shape or form. Many of us in the trades have used CHOP in the past (myself included) for their pediatrics or to treat more serious ailments that our children may have. There are a couple reasons for this; first and foremost, CHOP is the best in the area for treating children and by having top notch insurance through our Unions, our members are able to get the best care possible for our kids. Second, for generations our members have built the facilities that CHOP operates out of, so we know that the best quality craftsmanship has gone into these buildings and our members and organizations believe in spending our money with organizations and businesses that invest in us and our families. In fact in 2013 Building Trades Members infused roughly $40 million dollars into the CHOP system, that’s nothing to sneeze at and the average person would agree.
The common retort to our reasons for protesting wages and standards is that Union workers make too much money and it’s just not cost effective. That is a completely false statement; it is actually less cost effective to hire low paid, less skilled labor, for those organizations or businesses building new or retrofitting facilities. This idea that people who work with their hands should be paid as little as possible needs to stop right now. How much do you suppose a skilled surgeon or a CEO makes? I can guarantee it’s a lot more than our wages, but when you want the best, you have to pay top dollar. Would you want the lowest paid brain surgeon performing an operation on you or a loved one? I know I wouldn’t. So why would you want the least paid construction worker building a hospital that contains operating rooms where your child might possibly be operated on? I know I would want the most skilled, best paid people working on those buildings, especially when it comes to the mechanicals, because in a hospital situation, the HVAC system is absolutely critical for keeping a sterile environment. You don’t want to pinch pennies when it comes to peoples' lives, especially childrens'.
Since I touched on Executive pay in the last paragraph, did you know that CHOP’s current CEO, Dr. Steven Altschuler earned $4.17 million dollars in 2010? When Dr. Altschuler took the position of CEO in 2000, he was making around $1.1 million dollars. That’s roughly a 400% increase in decade! While nurse’s pay has only increased around 30% in that time and I know Building Trades member pay didn’t increase that much either, not even close. How is it ok for the executives of a hospital like CHOP to receive that kind of compensation, but it’s wrong for the people that build and work with patients in those facilities to earn honest, family sustaining wages? It’s not ok. I’m not saying it’s wrong for executives to make more than the average worker, the problem lies in the idea that hardworking men and women don’t deserve to have wages that put food on the table, a roof over their heads and a good life for their families when CEO’s are making more than the budget of a local municipality. It’s economic hypocrisy.
What is the reason for demonstrating in the first place? As mentioned before, the protests outside CHOP Philadelphia and CHOP King of Prussia are against the breaking down of wages and standards for Sheet Metal Workers, but it goes even deeper than that. This isn’t just about us Sheet Metal Workers; this is about all construction workers and the erosion of the middle class.
A common question is: “What do you mean by wages and standards?” Wages and standards are the hourly wage and benefits of a worker. Typically, workers who are members of a union earn the highest wages and standards in the construction industry.
Why is it important that we fight to keep these standards in place? This question has a more complex answer. It’s important because when pay and benefits are chipped away from a particular industry, the total workforce within that sector start to earn less and these kinds of actions spread to other industries like a cancer. This affects not just workers’ families, but our community at large.
Lower wage workers pay a lesser tax rate, which may mean tax increases or the loss of public services for everyone. In addition, when workers earn less pay, they spend less in our communities, because they simply can’t afford to spend as much as a worker that earns a higher rate of pay. This absolutely affects our local and national economies.
When workers don’t have a comprehensive benefit package (Health and Retirement), this also affects the community negatively. Workers (or a member of their family) that have no health insurance will eventually need to go to the hospital (everyone gets sick). And unfortunately since they don’t have insurance and they make so little in the way of wages, that worker certainly can’t pay for the healthcare received, so the rest of us foot the bill. Then again let’s say they do have insurance, but it barely covers anything, (this is a very common case). That worker and their family would have to pay through the nose for the needed healthcare, which would put them in more dire straits than they were before. Working families don’t deserve to be placed in a situation akin to Russian roulette when it comes to healthcare. Furthermore, when workers earn a decent wage, they give back more to our communities and their families. And that’s worth every penny.
Retirement is another part of these standards, most non-union construction workers’ retirement plans pale in comparison to those of their union counterparts. Without any retirement, these workers are left with no choice but to continue working well past what their bodies might physically allow (construction is very hard on the body). And even if they do finally stop working, Social Security alone can only provide a meager existence, so in many cases family would have to help to take care of them; which I’m sure many are glad to, but it does add a strain to daily life and takes away a bit of independence from the retiree. The other option is they would need assistance from the state. Our elders deserve so much more dignity than that and when wages and standards are high, that dignity can be achieved.
That was a rather lengthy explanation; however it’s necessary so people understand why Local 19 and other unions protest in the first place.
While every demonstration held at CHOP has had a good turnout (anywhere from 75 to 200 union members), it still isn’t enough. Why are only Local 19 and Local 14 taking part in these protests? I heard that some of the leadership within the Building Trades believe that being out there is too extreme. Apparently President Masino was told by another Union Leader that,
“We aren’t there yet.” Well, in my humble opinion, if we continue to wait until
“we’re there,” it’ll be too late.
The fact that the other trades aren’t participating in these protests outside CHOP Philadelphia and are crossing picket lines is a clear message to CHOP and other large developers in the city. They see a disjointed Labor Movement and if we don’t unite now, it’s very possible that they will try for a mixed job (not 100% union) in the city. This is happening in other major metropolitan areas around the Nation (like NYC) and I’d wager it’s because big developers saw the unions fighting each other and used that against them. And it’s worked.
In my union household we were raised to never cross a picket line, period. When was it considered alright for a trade to cross another trade’s picket line? This is out of control and needs to stop; this lack of cohesion is exactly what anti-labor supporters want and are hoping happens. If we all don’t start fighting for each other, there will be nothing left to fight for. To be the Labor Movement you must do exactly that, move and progress forward! How can we do that when we’re all pulling in different directions? The number one tenant of Unionism is solidarity and showing others our strength through our solidarity. If that falls by the wayside, the struggle will be so much more difficult than it is now.
For all of these reasons listed, Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 19 is protesting CHOP and as a member I for one know that I can go to sleep every night with the assurance that my union fights not just for me and my family (and our members), but for all working people and our communities. As we always do, we will continue to stand up for what’s right and carry on the fight for working people in the hope that our Brothers and Sisters in the other trades will join us outside of CHOP and show everyone that we are together in this fight. Only through solidarity will we all prosper, like the old labor saying goes: “United we stand, divided we beg.” That statement is just as true now as it ever was and must never be ignored.