Workers protest hiring practices at school sites

By Emily Richmond

Tuesday, April 30, 2002 | 9:10 a.m.

A giant inflatable rat smirked at the passer-by from its perch on a flatbed truck outside the Clark County School District offices on Flamingo Road yesterday, accompanied by a small band of disgruntled construction workers claiming unfair hiring practices on new school building sites.

A half-dozen members of the Laborers' International Union Local No. 872 in Las Vegas, who handed out fliers to pedestrians and waved to honking cars for much of the day Monday, said one of the school district's leading contractors doesn't hire locally and has a history of violating federal safety and health codes.

The target of the protest was Roche Constructors, which has offices in many states including California, Ohio, Nevada and New York. Wade Pope, regional vice president for Roche, said Monday his organization primarily hires subcontractors from throughout Southern Nevada for its school district jobs, using both union and nonunion employees.

"We don't know why (the protesters) are targeting us," Pope said. "Our projects for the school district finish on time, and we go out of our way to ensure employee benefits are paid out as the contracts require. We're a responsible company."

Union organizer Thomas Morley said Roche brings in crews from other states in order to avoid paying more to local workers. The school district, which is in the midst of a $3.5 billion improvement plan to build 88 new schools, should be checking the backgrounds of contractors more carefully, Morley said.

Fred Smith, construction manager for the Clark County School District's building department, said the protesters had parked their rat in front of the wrong office.

"If someone has concerns about a contractor, the proper venue to bring those to light is with the licensing board," Smith said.