Bricklayers Local 1 calls for boycott of Piazza on West Pine apartments

General contractor using non-union, out-of-state bricklayers

By SHERI GASSAWAY
Correspondent

Are you or someone you know in the market for an apartment in the Central West End? Avoid The Piazza on West Pine apartments.

Bricklayers Local 1 is calling for a boycott of the new five-story, luxury apartment complex at 3939 W. Pine Blvd. because its general contractor, E-404 Construction, is using non-union, out-of-state bricklayers.   

To get the word out to the public, the union has purchased a huge billboard that reads, “Boycott The Piazza Apts. on West Pine. West Pine Development Partners III is using out-of-state workers. Will your job be next?” The billboard, which was erected May 28, can be seen while driving on Interstate 64 East before the Market Street exit near IKEA.

BILLBOARD TO GET MORE ATTENTION

Local 1 Field Representative and Recording Secretary Mark Savage said the bricklayers on the project are from Texas and do not speak English. He says he’s been unable to determine the company the employees are working for because he’s been given several different business names from the superintendent on the project.

“E-404 Construction has used us in the past, but I guess they decided to save money by paying less money to out-of-state workers and making them work seven days a week,” Savage said. “We decided to switch things up a little and use a billboard to attract more attention to the situation.”

On June 28, Local 1 will change the billboard to read “Vote No on Prop A” ahead of the Aug. 7 election when every worker in Missouri needs to Vote “NO” on Prop. A to defeat the phony, anti-worker “right-to-work” law passed last year by the Missouri Legislature.

NEED AN APARTMENT? TRY ALL-UNION ENCORE OR CORTONA

If you are looking for a luxury apartment in St. Louis, a better bet would be to head west on I-64 to the all-union built Encore at Forest Park, 5700 Highlands Plaza Dr., or its sister complex Cortana at Forest Park, 5800 Highlands Plaza Dr.

Both developments were built 100 percent union and paid for with union pension funds through the AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust (BIT).

BIT utilizes union pension funds to provide equity for projects like Encore and Cortona, creating good union jobs and a solid return on investment for the pension funds. To qualify for BIT financing, developers must commit to using all union construction labor to build the project and union labor to maintain and service the development once it is completed.