All cement and concrete workers at the World Trade Center site are expected to be back on the job Thursday, following three days off the job on what many called a "silent strike."
Concrete workers have been working without a contract since July 1, and while no deal has been reached between the unions and the contractors, the secretary treasurer of Local 18A Kieran O’Sullivan said all workers will be back on the job Thursday. "Negotiations have gone well," O’Sullivan said, but there is no agreement. O’Sullivan said contractors were looking for a 20 percent reduction in pay, and he expected there would be an agreement in the next two weeks.
Many carpenters, whose contracts are set to expire on Friday, joined the concrete workers in walk-offs. A Port Authority spokesman said the work stoppage hasn't effected work at the 9/11 Memorial, the Transit Hub or 1 World Trade Center.
An Iron Worker working on the transit hub project , said he's hardly seen any slowdown since Monday.
"You can't really tell how many guys are on a site from day to day, there's a lot of guys here, 3,500, so if you're missing 200-300, you don't really notice the difference," he said.
"You can't really tell how many guys are on a site from day to day, there's a lot of guys here, 3,500, so if you're missing 200-300, you don't really notice the difference," he said.
But like many workers, he said work on the site can only continue for a short time without the pouring of fresh concrete.
By Peter Coyne / TheElectricWeb.com
August 3, 2011
