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twitterWorkers walk off CityCenter site in protest
Union leaders: We’ll picket until contractor meets demands for increased safety
Leila Navidi
Shortly after midnight Monday, construction workers picket MGM Mirage’s CityCenter to protest safety conditions at the project after talks between leaders from local building trades unions and the site’s general contractor, Perini Building Co., broke off earlier that night.
Tue, Jun 3, 2008 (2 a.m.)
CityCenter Workers Strike
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Safety In Action
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Standing outside CityCenter's contruction entrance on Frank Sinatra Drive and Rue de Monte Carlo, Laborers Local 872 members Eric Johnson, Javier Flores and Edgar Saldana participate in a picket of the project where they work.
Steve Ross, secretary treasurer of the Southern Nevada Building and Construction Trades Council, speaks about construction worker deaths at MGM Mirage's CityCenter site during a news conference Monday in Henderson.
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Construction workers shut down MGM Mirage’s CityCenter at midnight Monday, walking off the job to protest safety conditions at the $9.2 billion project.
Workers also began picketing outside of CityCenter, holding signs that read, “unsafe job site.”
Union leaders said workers will picket the site until the general contractor, Perini Building Company, agrees to take steps to improve safety. Work usually goes on around the clock at CityCenter, the largest private commercial development in U.S. history.
A rash of fatal construction accidents on the Las Vegas Strip has shaken workers and caught the attention and concern of national labor leaders, safety experts and elected officials. But until Monday, many local union leaders had been reluctant to express concerns publicly about safety. That changed after Saturday’s death of Dustin Tarter, a 39-year-old operating engineer from Boulder City.
Tarter became the sixth worker to die at CityCenter and the ninth to die in a year and a half on sites overseen by general contracting giant Perini Building Co. In all, 11 workers have died on Strip projects in that period.
Tarter, who worked as a crane oiler for Dielco Crane Service, was crushed Saturday morning when he got stuck between the counterweight of the crane and the track of the crane.
Union leaders said Monday afternoon they were prepared to take action if Perini did not agree to their demands by midnight. At a news conference, rows of leaders from most of the local building trades unions stood behind Steve Ross, head of the Southern Nevada Building and Construction Trades Council, as he announced that union leaders had voted unanimously to demand that Perini take three steps. They want the company to agree to pay for additional safety training for workers, allow national union researchers to examine root causes of safety problems on the site, and allow union leaders full access to the work site.
“It’s time to stop talking about worker safety and time to start putting into place policies that are going to improve worker safety on this job site,” Ross said.
Talks between Perini and unions broke off sometime before 9 p.m. Monday. Perini representatives did not return calls from the Sun.
Ross and Steve Redlinger, a Building Trades consultant, said Perini had already agreed informally to the group’s demands but had not followed through.
“There was a tacit agreement that these things would be no problem, but the problem is in the follow-up,” Redlinger said.
The Las Vegas Sun reported in March that state safety regulators found that a pattern of contractor safety violations contributed to deaths on numerous Strip construction sites. Those violations included inadequate training of workers, the use of faulty equipment and failure to cover holes in decking or place temporary safety floors or nets beneath workers to break any falls.
Many of those findings were later overturned during informal conferences between employers and Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration administrators. Contractors succeeded in arguing that the workers themselves were responsible for or contributed to their deaths.
The deaths have prompted discussions at union halls, contractor offices and construction sites.
Many workers say speed is the main underlying cause: Crowded work sites, pressure to finish work quickly and fatigue from extensive overtime lead to unsafe conditions, they say.
That view was discussed by union leaders at the building trades council meeting Monday, according to a union official involved in the discussions.
“Contractors will do things that are not safe to accelerate schedules,” said the source. “We can train and train and train our workers but it all boils down to scheduling on the subsite and we’re tired of the response from the general contractor, which says it’s the owner’s mandate. It’s not acceptable. We want to look at every issue.”
MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman said Monday that safety problems are attributable to workers not following procedure.
“It seems to us that there are a lot of safety programs, a lot of safety instruction, safety seminars and meetings, safety officers and signage,” said Feldman, who called Tarter’s death “a very tragic reminder of the need for all workers to follow safety rules.”
Details surrounding Tarter’s death were still unclear Monday, and OSHA would not comment on its investigation. Tarter’s employer, Dielco Crane Services, also declined to comment.
Tarter was born and raised in Boulder City and construction ran in the family, said Ryan Walters, his half-brother and a member of Laborers Local 872. Dustin’s father, Richard, was a plumber-pipefitter who died in a construction accident in San Diego about 10 years ago, Walters said.
The last month has been particularly hard on the family. Dustin’s brother, Richard, died on May 8 in a motorcycle accident. He was a union carpenter who had worked at CityCenter and most recently at Echelon.
Walters described his half-brother as an avid outdoorsman who loved riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, boating on Lake Mead, hunting, fishing and skiing. “He loved life in general,” Walters said. “He was very loving, caring and he loved his family.”
The action from the local unions following Tarter’s death comes after months of outspoken concern from Mark Ayers, the head of the AFL-CIO’s Building and Construction Trades Department, as well as researchers with the department’s research center, the Center for Construction Research and Training.
Ayers contacted Ross several months ago after becoming worried about the spate of deaths at CityCenter. Ayers suggested that Ross negotiate with Perini to allow the organization’s researchers to examine the site and the circumstances surrounding the accidents for root causes of safety problems.
But progress stalled as attention from local leaders turned to ensuring that all workers at CityCenter take a ten-hour OSHA class in safety. Many have already taken the course through their apprenticeship program.
Last month, Ayers met with Ross in Las Vegas to again offer the local Council his group’s services to evaluate safety at CityCenter. According to Redlinger, Perini said it would agree to the safety training and to allow the researchers to access the site, but the company did not follow through on a formal agreement.
Construction safety in Las Vegas, as well as in New York City, is expected to be a major topic of conversation at a closed retreat this week that Ayers is holding with the presidents of member building trades unions, and the group plans to come up with an action plan.
“Almost every death on a construction site is preventable,” Ayers said in a statement Friday following the fatal crane accident in New York City.
Sun reporter Michael J. Mishak contributed to this story.
Discussion: 15 comments so far…
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This is what happens when you have a Union that is only concerned about collecting their money.
They send out unskilled, untrained labor that will not and do not follow basic safety practices then people die.
The Union is not prepared for a job this size so they are sending out anyone they can get their hands on willing to pay their blood money.
Eleven construction workers have died in the last 18 months
at Strip construction sites including Six at the City Center
HOW MANY MORE
LAS VEGAS CONSTRUCTION WORKERS
MUST DIE
BEFORE OSHA WILL TAKE ACTION?
It's Time To Bring Awareness
to The Safety Issues at
MGM Dubai World
City Center Project
and all other Las Vegas Construction Sites!
In Solidarity the SPFPA has Now Joined
The Fight to Bring Awareness to The Safety Issues
Facing Unionized Construction Workers at Various Las Vegas Construction Sites.
We Proudly Support Our Construction Trade Brothers and Sisters
Together Maybe We Can Save a Construction Workers Life
http://www.spfpalocal7777.org/SAFETYFIRS...
MGM MIRAGE and Dubai World to Form Long-Term Strategic Relationship
MGM MIRAGE and Dubai World have signed a definitive agreement for a $5.1 billion long-term joint venture, the companies announced today. Dubai World will invest approximately $2.7 billion in MGM MIRAGE's CityCenter mixed-use in Las Vegas and up to $2.4 billion in up to 28.4 million shares of MGM Mirage stock, representing an approximate 9.5 percent stake in the company.
MGM MIRAGE and Dubai World met in May, when Dubai World chairman Sultan Bin Sulayem sat in on a meeting between MGM MIRAGE and Kerzner International Holdings on another project. Terry Lanni, chairman & CEO of MGM MIRAGE, then later met with Bin Sulayem, and joint venture discussions began.
http://www.spfpalocal7777.org/MGMMIRAGEa...
The onus for safety is clearly on the contractor, and a high degree of culpability belongs to OSHA. I've been following this since moving here late last year, and it is lunacy to suggest the unions are responsible, as vegaslee states. I'm not a union advocate in any way, but I can read and comprehend. I am actually embarrassed for vegaslee, who obviously has an axe to grind.
OSHA needs to hold the contractor accountable, which they have failed to do. And the way I understand it, if a contractor is not satisfied with the skill level of a union worker, he can simply call the hall and have him replaced, but skill level is not an issue here. It seems to be more about safety MONITORING and INSPECTION.
This is what happens when workers don't take the time and preparation to practice the safety issues that have been taught and provided previously. Most if not all the deaths are because of safety issues that the individual has not taken the right safety precautions.
What the general public obviously fails to understand is that every single employee on site has to go throw an obscene amount of safety training and meetings before they are even allowed to step foot on site. Perini and every sub contractor also have dedicated safety teams who hold safety meetings every week and walk the site continuously. Ultimately, safety is the responsibility of the individual worker. I can’t blame Ford because I neglected to put on my seatbelt and was then thrown out of the windshield in an accident. All Ford can do is put the seatbelt in and hope I’m smart enough to use it.
Right, Scrat, and to take your analogy one step further, if you don't wear your seatbelt, and you don't require your passenger to wear a seatbelt, your going to get a ticket. But the law has to be enforced, and in this case, Perini and OSHA have done a bad job of enforcing their own safety practices. And that is why there is a strike right now.
I can't say that I know much about cranes, but why was this latest worker working on a moving crane?
It would seem to me that doing maintainence on a moving machinery is very dangerous. One would think that you would only do the work when the crane was not in operation.
Now if the site would not shut the crane down for the maintainence to be done, or the worker asked to shut the crane down to do the maintainence and was told to do the work with the crane in operation then yes the site should take the blame.
However if the worker did the work without getting the crane shut down, or did not ask for the crane to be shut down when there is an safety risk to be working there how can you blame the site for that?
The fact is that there are hundreds of employees out there AND YES some will make mistakes but it shouldn't cost them their lives. Everyone is rushing so much they are bound to make mistakes. It's rush, rush, rush and no time to thoroughly think things through. OR you have a scenario where the men in charge are directing workers to do certain things which they know could have the possibility for injury but insist on doing it that was regardless. Many of these men are losing thier lives doing tasks they are directed to do. In some cases the Foreman AND superintendents are WATCHING while it is performed. So, what do these men supposed to do...walk off the job because they are told to rush, rush or walk off because they are told to do something that may or may not be unsafe. They have families to care for too. So they stay so they can have the ability to care for their families only to have something go horribly wrong. Do those in charge discourage this environment. NO THEY DO NOT. It is much cheaper for the companies to pay these measly fines levied by OSHA(which the majority of the time they end up not paying anyhow) than to fall behind and take hits on their bonuses. The mentality of the game has to change. The unions need to come together and take back the power. What is happening today is a good thing. It should have happened a long time ago. Many of us are suffering because someone didn't take a stand when the first unnecessary death occurred. Amen to these men for taking a stand and setting examples and city center and cosmospolitan. Our family members should be coming home safe at night, regardless. These casinos are not as important as our family members. They will get built AND make money no matter how long it takes to get them up.
Vegaslee,
Give me a break.
My husband is a 20 year journeyman and so is his crew. Don't give me that crap.
Are there things that can be done to insure thier safety?
Absolutly.
But lets talk about the many workers who KNOW they are to be tied off, but don't because they are that cool. That is not Perini's problem. And the Formen who tell these men everyday to "hurry up or you get your 2 checks" and no work again. This is what these men are working under. Again, this is not Perini's rules, it is thier ignorant ego's, once they get that job. Not that they are qulaified.
This is a 2 way problem.
It is about time all the unions unite and stand together. this stand should have taken place a year and a half ago. they need the union brotherhood to be stronger and back each other up at all times
As it has been said above...Perini and all subs require in-depth safety training, and classes, along with drug testing!! I have sat through one of these training classes and more times then not the subs employees find these training sessions to be a waste of time and believe they all know better and can care less what is safe, but how to look cool on site and will continue to save an extra few minutes even if that means violating safety procedures!
Perini continues to push safety on all subs, whether they believe these safety issues are important or not, with warnings/violations and even threats to kick them off the project. Perini is doing their part, and doing their part well! It is the subs who think they have been in the industry for so long they don't need to follow the safety regulations and it is sad that these employees think do something faster, but not safe, (ie not tying off when making a quick change) can cause them to not go home to their family at night.
Roughrider101,
I totally agree with you. I've been through the same process and safety training they make you go through. They make you go through at least a weeks training and provide you with other safety training courses (ie OSHA 10 and OSHA 30) It is a shame that all the blame has to be put on Perini because they are the general contractors. IT IS THE SUBS RESPONSIBILITY for their individual selves and safety!
As usual, the public blames Perini because that's the name they know. The subcontractors cruise under the radar when that may well be the problem. No one talks about things like happened Friday at City Center...a woman from Fisk Electric had an appearant heart attack in Pelli Tower right after lunch...several Perini supervisors, in full 911 mode, got to her and she was down a manlift quickly to an ambulance. She is fine I heard, but it was Perini, not her own Fisk Elect. who made it happen
It's definately a horrible thing that's happened over the past weekend. Perini's goal is to send every man and woman home at the end of the day to their families and loved ones. Perini has been trying to change the culture to that of a safety oriented culture, which is something that can't and won't change over night. Perini has been showing this through holding stand downs on-site and explaning to all workers the safety concerns they feel need to be addressed immediately as well as being active in demonstrating their level of concern to the workers.
What bothers me is people immediately want to begin pointing fingers without knowing all the facts because in the end, someone has to be blammed.
What's sad is just because Perini is the general contractor, Perini is to be blammed even when an accident was due to incompetence or the lack of observing basic safety regulations that are in place. No matter what, you can't ever take stupid out of the equation.
It's outrageous accusations made by the organizations such as the Union or misinformed individuals that I believe is making our country dumber. I don't believe our forefathers intended freedom of speech to imply it's acceptable to make false accusations without due cause. Organizations and people like this need to begin using that thing on top of their neck rather than to occupy space.
City Center is a huge job in a confined space and as such, there is no room for mistakes, miscommunications, and/or bad decisions. I do agree with the Union wanting to make the construction site a safer environment but, at the same token, subs need be held accountable for their violations of safety policies that are in place and begin taking some responsibility.
What's going to end up happening, I can almost guarantee it, is workers will be getting fired left and right for safety violations such as not observing required PPE (ie safety glasses, reflective vest...). Perini has previously had the attitude of giving a safety violator a warning or slap on the hand, a second chance, so that that a worker learns from their mistake and doesn't end up working at another site doing the same thing and end up getting hurt or worse, ending up dead.