By KRISTEN SONNE
The consortium responsible for the Interstate 15 reconstruction project says it is not breaking Utah's right-to-work law even though it requires those interested in employment to apply through a union.
Greg Brooks, communications director for Wasatch Constructors, said workers are not required to join a union.
Wasatch Constructors, the consortium contractor for the I-15 reconstruction project, signed agreements with local craft unions before they were awarded the bid for $1.325 billion March 26.
'Prior to the submittal of our proposal for the project, we signed a letter of agreement with the five major craft unions,' he said.
The agreement said those interested in applying for jobs would have to go through the union.
'We are asking all calls and faxes related to job placement to go through the unions because those are our chosen place to work through,' Brooks said. 'Some of those unions are telling people that if they get the job through this manner they are required to join the union.'
Brooks said Wasatch Constructors is committed to hiring locally, and he said unions are their tool for hiring locally. They can employ and fill positions more quickly using more local people.
A typical definition of a right-to-work law is 'no person may be denied employment and employers may not be denied the right to employ any person because of that person's membership or nonmembership in any labor organization,' according to the Dictionary of Personnel Management and Labor Relations.
Raymond McPherron, placement adviser at Utah Job Service, said his personal feeling is that most public jobs require the use of union-contracted people and that is just the way most of the projects are handled.
'There is an upfront cost to join a union and a monthly due,' he said. 'Union members are usually paid more.'
The unions in this case are the referral service, said Steve Richins, business manager of the Utah Building and Construction Trades Council. He said they are complying with the state right-to-work law, and there is a handling fee on job applications, however, no one is required to join a union.
'No preferences will be made, only if the applicant is qualified,' Richins said.
Richins said he is sorry for the misrepresentation by some reporters who said unions were requiring applicants to join the union.
'You cannot force anyone in this state to join a union,' said Glenn Southam, Teamsters Union Local 222 business representative. 'You can look at the advantages and see that it is like belonging to a big club and it takes participation to make it work. The unions are what negotiate the wage rights, so why would you not want to belong to a labor union?'
Initiation dues for the Teamsters Union Local 222 are $300 with monthly dues for the I-15 reconstruction being $34 a month.
Southam said the first workers from this division will be those who are members and already in this division.
After the prejob meeting Thursday, Southam said Wasatch Constructors did not tell him how many positions would be available.
A prejob meeting is a meeting with the company and staff who are running a project.