Union protests at Mount Prospect village hall over labor practices at HQ Residences construction site
Representatives of a labor union placed a large, inflatable pig at two locations in downtown Mount Prospect this week, accusing a contractor working on the redevelopment of the former site of the police and fire headquarters of underpaying employees.
Local 1 of the Laborers' International Union of North America says Kinzie Builders, which is building the HQ Residences, is using as a subcontractor a masonry firm, DCA Quality Construction, the union claims pays substandard wages and benefits.
The union put the pig outside Mount Prospect village hall Thursday and near the HQ Residences job site Friday.
Kinzie is one of the firms involved in developing the six-story, mixed-use building at 112 E. Northwest Highway.
The local handed out a sheet of paper laying out the complaint, saying if companies like Kinzie and DCA "can get away with eating at the wages and benefits Laborers fought long and hard to get, eventually the whole economy will suffer."
DCA President Dominic Amoroso said he pays a "more than decent" wage.
"It depends who you ask what substandard wages are," he said. "All my guys are happy. If my guys wanted, they're free to leave. We don't force anybody to work for us."
Union attorney Jeremy Esparza said DCA fails to pay "the area standards."
The village sold its former headquarters last year for $2 million, with the proceeds going into the Prospect and Main tax increment financing district fund, which collects property taxes above a certain point for redevelopment in the area.
"They have a perfectly legal and safe construction operation going on at HQ Residences," Mount Prospect Village Manager Michael Cassady said in response to the union's claims. "This union objects that the general contractor, Kinzie, is an open shop general contractor, and they're exercising their constitutional rights to object to that."
"We have great respect for Kinzie," Cassady said. "They have shown to us in previous projects that they are great constructors. They operate in a safe and efficient manner."