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  1. #1
    Super Moderator Newmexican's Avatar
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    WV-Union pickets school builders - using illegal workers

    Union pickets school builders
    Group's ire aimed at Bluefield-based Frye Roofing, which uses non-union workers
    by Ry Rivard
    Charleston Daily Mail


    Wayne Rebich, of Beckley, a representative with the Affiliated Construction Trades Foundation, waves at a supporter as he and others picket in front of the state School Building Authority along Kanawha Boulevard.

    CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- About 15 union representatives picketed the state School Building Authority office in Charleston on Thursday to demand the agency do more to make sure West Virginia workers get work on state-funded projects.

    The picketers from the Affiliated Construction Trades Foundation arrayed themselves along the 2300 block of Kanawha Boulevard for about two hours Thursday morning.

    They waved printed signs that read "Demand Local Jobs For Local Workers" and handwritten signs that said "Manchin: Hire Local Workers," a reference to building authority executive director Mark Manchin.

    "We are spending state taxpayer money; we should be supporting local workers," said union representative Wayne Rebich.

    The union's ire is directed at Bluefield-based Frye Roofing Inc.

    Rebich faulted the company for hiring "95 percent or more" of its workers from out of state, specifically North Carolina, and said there was a "good possibility" some of them were illegal immigrants.

    Last month, the union alleged during a meeting with Manchin that the company has hired undocumented workers. The union said it had obtained 31 workers' Social Security numbers and that 24 of those numbers didn't match up with the workers claiming them.

    J.C. Robinson, president of Frye Roofing, which is a non-union shop, has taken issue with the allegations.

    He said Thursday the number of people he employs from out of state is not nearly as high as the union alleges and he says he does not know that the company has hired illegal immigrants, though he said there is a chance the company has "made a mistake."

    Robinson said he looks for the most efficient workers it can find. That allows him to keep his prices down and, in the end, saves taxpayers money.

    "Some of those happen to live in North Carolina - certainly not all," Robinson said.

    He later added, "The concept that they have said '95 percent or more' is totally inaccurate."

    Robinson said he couldn't ever know for sure if the company employed an illegal immigrant.

    "Do I know specifically that we have made a mistake? No. Is there a chance we have? Yes." Robinson said.

    He added, "We have no evidence or knowledge that we have made mistakes in that process."

    Manchin said he had informed federal immigration officials about the union's allegations.

    In a letter he wrote to the immigration agency, he said there "does appear to be some valid concerns," Manchin said, quoting from the letter in a telephone interview Thursday.

    He said he had not yet heard back from immigration officials.

    Still, Manchin said, most people working on jobs are West Virginians.

    "The vast, vast majority of people working in jobs throughout West Virginia are West Virginians," he said.

    Robinson suggested the union was targeting the company.

    "I think it's pretty simple - it's not different really than Pepsi and Coke," he said.

    Robinson added, "At the end of the day we haven't done anything wrong, and we really don't have any reason to go on the offensive. And they're not going to stop, because that's their job."

    Jesse James, a member of ACT Local 185 in Charleston, said each job that someone out of state takes is one that is lost to West Virginia and that somebody should do something about it.

    "They're still letting them work for the state," James said. "And they're putting us out of work."

    Contact writer Ry Rivard at ry.riv...@dailymail.com or 304-348-1796.


    http://www.dailymail.com/Business/201010211472
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  2. #2
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    If even ONE of those workers is an illegal immgrant , then that's an american being robbed of a job they so desperately need !

  3. #3
    Senior Member southBronx's Avatar
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    good luck guys you should Have the job that them
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

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