Bashar Issa faces four labor complaints at Statler Towers site

Omaha Steve

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Sun Mar-09-08 06:11 PM
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Bashar Issa faces four labor complaints at Statler Towers site

http://www.buffalonews.com/145/story/292609.html

By Sharon Linstedt
Updated: 03/06/08 10:30 AM

The National Labor Relations Board is taking formal action against the British developer who is renovating the historic Statler Towers in downtown Buffalo.

The NLRB�s Buffalo Region office has lodged four complaints against Bashar Issa�s BSC Development Buffalo LLC and a sister firm, Connex Construction LLC, and has offered a settlement agreement to correct the improper labor practices.

�We�ve concluded there is reasonable cause to believe the act has been violated and we�ve gone to the employer seeking a settlement,� said Paul Murphy, assistant to the regional NLRB director.

Bashar Issa, who is renovating the Statler Towers in Buffalo, has been offered a settlement on four labor-related complaints.

The official complaints and settlement offer stem from a series of allegations filed with the labor board by laborers employed by Issa as part of his $118 million overhaul of the Statler. Several workers, who were among a group of 27 employees who voted last summer to unionize, claim they were laid off or fired as a resulting of their unionization efforts.

The filings, which date back to August 2007 and include new claims filed in the past two weeks, also accused BSC and Connex of bad-faith bargaining as the workers attempt to forge a contract under the auspices of Laborer�s Local 210. A key charge was that Issa did not authorize his local representatives to bargain on his behalf.

Under the proposed settlement agreement, Issa would be required to hire back the workers it discharged and provide back wages. The developer would also have to follow federal labor guidelines as contract negotiations continue.

FULL story at link.

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