{"article":{"id":204877,"heading":"Workers' Rights Violated by One of L.A.'s Largest Real Estate Developers","author":"repost","created":"2007-08-16 20:20:19","modified":"2013-11-11 00:49:23","last_modified":"Mon, 11 Nov 2013 07:49:23","article":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><p>Unions representing ironworkers, electricians, painters, sprinkler-fitters and other construction workers filed a lawsuit today in Superior Court against one of Los Angeles&rsquo; largest developers, Thomas Gilmore and Associates, for unfair business practices and violating labor laws. Two dozen of Gilmore&rsquo;s partners and sub-contactors in the El Dorado and Rowan loft conversion projects in the 400 block of South Spring Street were also named in the lawsuit. <br><br> The head of Ironworkers Local 433, Robbie Hunter, said other developers are working with unions to change the face of downtown. &ldquo;Unfortunately, Gilmore has decided to run this like a third-world operation &ndash; paying employees cash under the table, hiring unskilled workers who aren&rsquo;t qualified, ignoring Workers&rsquo; Compensation, cheating local kids out of apprenticeships,&rdquo; Hunter said. <br><br> Marvin Kropke, Business Manager for Local 11 of the electrical workers&rsquo; union, IBEW, added that the City of Los Angeles has given developers significant economic incentives for private for-profit projects. &ldquo;Taxpayers financed these projects, but employers like those on this project think its okay to avoid paying taxes by paying workers in cash,&rdquo; Kropke said. <br><br> The lawsuit also alleges that Gilmore and his subcontractors have failed to pay prevailing wages or overtime, or provide meal and rest periods as required by law. As a result, they have underbid law-abiding competitors and put employees&rsquo; and the public&rsquo;s health at risk. <br><br> &ldquo;We all know construction work is hard,&rdquo; said Jim Irwin, an organizer with District Council 36 of the painters&rsquo; union, &ldquo;but making people work under unsafe conditions means unnecessary risks.  What does it cost them to make sure employees stripping lead-based paint or removing asbestos have respirators? Almost nothing.  Over the years, though, we pay with our lives.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","contact":"","link":"http:\/\/www.launionaflcio.org\/news\/07_08_09-Tom-Gilmore-Dispute-IBEW.php","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"Lawsuit Filed Against Thomas Gilmore and Associates","numcomment":1,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2007\/08\/204877.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}