Worcester Carpenters Raise Red Flag on Court House Developer

Monday, January 04, 2016

GoLocalWorcester News Team and Kate Nagle

A developer who works throughout New England is under fire in New Hampshire — and workers unions and environmentalists are now asking the EPA to investigate all Brady Sullivan properties throughout the region, including Worcester.

Developer Brady Sullivan is currently the subject of a lead contamination lawsuit at Mill West in Manchester, NH, and Kevin Ksen with the Carpenters Local #107 in Worcester said a petition to the EPA with over 20,000 signatures is intended to monitor all of the developer’s properties, and cited examples of labor issues in Massachusetts that prompted the action.

“We had some experiences with labor issues at Brady Sullivan properties in Massachusetts,” said Ksen. “Our main concern is when property is developed, are they hiring quality workers, and doing legitimate work. What happened in [New Hampshire], another contractor wouldn’t get away with that. So when that lawsuit moved forward, that’s what moved us to do the petition with Clean Water Action and Public Citizen,” said Ksen.

Read the petition HERE

“We're saying here's some more information now, and we think that an investigation needs to happen at all the properties. They're getting taxpayer money to do all this, and they're getting a lot,” said Ksen. “We’re paying them to do this. Lancaster Mills in Clinton, Pacific Mills in Lawrence, New Home Sewing in Orange, and both the Junction Shops and Worcester County Courthouse are all getting historic tax credits.”

Brady Sullivan did not respond to request for comment on the EPA petition, or labor issues cited by the carpenters.

Labor Issues at Core

Ksen, along with David Minasian, organizer for the New England Regional Council of Carpenters, spoke about the labor issues with Brady Sullivan in Massachusetts.

Ksen cited the finding by the Commonwealth’s “Joint Enforcement Task Force on the Underground Economy and Employee Misclassification” that ruled in November 2014 that contractors were misclassified at Brady Sullivan’s Junction Mill Shops in Worceseter, with stop work orders being issued, and an administrative violation filed for the corporate office having the the wrong address on file.

“In Clinton [at Lancaster Mills], the contractor who works for Brady Sullivan — Interior Partition Systems — hadn’t paid a number of employees, so [the workers] came to us, and the Connecticut Department of Labor had to step in, since that’s where the contractor’s from,” said Minasian. “In a matter of days, the works were paid, but they still had to come to us.”

“[Brady Suliivan] is not just the own developer, they oversee the contractors and they do the hiring. They have a direct responsibility,” said Minasian. “So what we’re seeing is they’re blaming someone else, and that’s a little harder to do in this case."

“The carpenters union, we just want to ensure that the standards are there, and the workers are safe, they're paid, and they go home with money in their pocket and all their fingers and toes,” said Minasian. “Immigrant, non-immigrant, union or non-union. Unfortunately our enforcement agencies don't always to their jobs.“

As GoLocal reported in April when the of City of Worcester reached an agreement to sell the former Worcester County Courthouse for $1.2 million to Brady Sullivan Properties, LLC, the City Council voted unanimously to approve the sale of the Courthouse to Brady Sullivan. Brady Sullivan has proposed 115 high class residential apartments and a 3,000 square foot retail space to occupy the old Courthouse.

The deal, which was announced by City Manager Ed Augustus on March 19, was being held up by labor unions. As part of its deal with the city, Brady Sullivan did agree to try to hire 50 percent of its workers from local construction labor force.

"This is a very important project for downtown Worcester and the north end of Main Street," said Joe Petty at the time of the vote in April. "It's important that we ensure that people in this community reap some of the benefits."

Unions Have Trouble Trusting Brady Sullivan

Leo Miller, Business Manager of Local 96 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Vice President of the Worcester-Fitchburg Building Trades Council, spoke at the Council meeting in April. Miller said, "We want to call upon the construction component of this economic development initiative and the concerns that we have for the current and past failures of Brady Sullivan to responsibly parent the construction piece which plays such a critical role in ensuring safe, code compliant homes."

Petition Wants Broader Look

The petition, which garnered over 20,000 signatures, is urging the EPA and state environmental regulators to “undertake a full audit of Brady Sullivan’s many converted mill properties in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island and levy appropriate fines against Brady Sullivan to hold it accountable and to ensure that no more of its residents or workers are exposed to dangerous levels of lead.”

“In Manchester and across New England, behind Brady Sullivan’s multimillion-dollar taxpayer-funded projects are a lot of problems for the underpaid workers who build them and the taxpayers who pay for them. And now, sadly, the tenants at Mill West are exposed to the biggest known lead hazard in recent New England history,” said Minasian. “The lead dust incident at Mill West is not surprising as Brady Sullivan’s business model is based on maximizing profits by hiring low-road contractors that cut corners to increase profits. Unfortunately this approach has endangered workers and now has put their tenants at risk.”

Ksen that “crossing state lines” in bringing the issue to light is “difficult, but necessary.”

“It’s newer for us to deal with someone crossing state lines. As a union we're not necessarily prepared to deal with this. States don't have the overarching enforcement , with different Attorney Generals,” said Ksen. “But we thought that folks should be aware anywhere Brady Sullivan is of what is going on.”

Worcester Carpenters Raise Red Flag on Court House Developer

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