The expansion and renovation of the Arts Council of Princeton in progress at the corner of Paul Robeson Place and Witherspoon Street has hit a slight bump in the road on the way to its expected spring 2007 completion. How slight a bump this proves to be may depend on whether union or non-union electricians are subcontracted by general contractor E. Allen Reeves.
According to an unidentified union electrician taking part "under the banner" of Carpenters Local 781 picketing in front of the construction site, if Reeves hires a non-union electrical contractor, union electricians would honor the carpenters' picket line.
The message being sent by the pickets could hardly be delivered in a more conspicuous location: one of the busiest corners in town, the cultural heart of the Borough, where a formidable arts presence is taking form. A year from now, pickets or no, a substantially new Arts Council will be facing the new library.
The argument voiced by the group of four pickets recently explaining the union's position was neither hostile nor threatening. According to Union member Bruce von Tulganburg, it's a question of quality and safety: "The non-union workers hired are substandard as far as safety, quality of the work, and they were not trained for their individual trades." He went on to point out that local union workers had been used in other such "municipal jobs."
Cost-cutting in insurance was also mentioned. As another picket put it: "When people pay less for benefits, when something goes wrong, they go to the hospital, and us taxpayers pay for it."
Marquis Construction, the subcontractor in question, referred questions to Reeves, which stands by their 88-year-long commitment to "quality construction in the merit shop environment."
Arts Council Executive Director Jeff Nathanson explained that the picketing was going on "because our general contractor is a merit shop, not a union shop. Although some of the subcontractors we have on the project are union, not all are." He went on to explain that the general contractor was selected after a "bidding process" during which all union contractors dropped out, leaving the Arts Council to select only from a pool of non-union general contractors. "New Jersey is a right to work' state," he added. "Projects are either open shop' or union; and so are general contractors." Mr. Nathanson pointed out that general contractor, E. Allen Reeves, is a family-owned business with an excellent reputation and that selection of Reeves was endorsed by project architect Michael Graves.
"This is a private project, with no public funds being used to finance it," Mr. Nathanson said, observing the the Arts Council is "a non-profit organization working for the benefit of the entire community."
"We are pleased with Reeves as our general contractor," he added. "They are doing an excellent job."
However, in a letter to Tuesday's Princeton Packet, Ridgeley G. Hutchinson, the business representative of Carpenters Local 781 (which is located in Lambertville), suggests that if the project were to "benefit the community," a local contractor should have been employed rather than a Pennsylvania firm using "predominantly workers from Pennsylvania." He also makes the point that the reason union contractors "bowed out" of the bidding process was because they didn't have a "fair chance" when bidding against "an employer who doesn't pay for his workers' health care or retirement plans."
Asked for further comment on the situation, Mr. Nathanson said Tuesday that the executive committee of the Arts Council will be meeting as soon as possible to discuss the matter.