NEW ALBANY —
A hearing has been set by the National Labor Relations Board for Feb. 8 regarding a complaint filed by union organizers against New Albany-based MAC Construction & Excavating.
The Laborers’ International Union of North America claimed in a charge filed Aug. 18 that a MAC supervisor threatened MAC employees “with unspecified reprisals” while they were attempting to meet about the possibility of forming a union.
According to the complaint, MAC workers had gathered at the West Baden Springs Hotel Aug. 9. They alleged a MAC supervisor told union organizers to leave the hotel and had surveyed their attempts to communicate with employees.
According to the complaint, the supervisor and MAC “has been interfering with, restraining and coercing employees” in their attempts to form a union — a right protected by federal law for the purpose of negotiating with an employer over wages, benefits and working conditions.
MAC Construction is one of the largest contractors in Southern Indiana, and has completed multiple public infrastructure projects in Clark and Floyd counties.
In a statement released by the Indiana Construction Information Network, Robert Norrington — business manager of the union organization Laborers Local 795 — addressed the MAC allegations.
“In this economy, workers need a break,” he said. “The National Labor Relations Board protects the rights of workers who wish to organize a union. We will fight tirelessly to defend those workers and their rights.”
In a follow-up interview, Norrington said MAC employees have yet to form a union. Laborers Local represents more than 13,000 construction and industrial workers in Indiana.
The union battle has expanded to the Internet in the form of two opposing websites — www.macexposed.org and macfactcheck.com — which were established by Laborers Local 795 and MAC Construction respectively.
“We’ve denied the allegations and there’s a hearing in February that will decide the outcome,” Jerry McHugh, CFO for MAC Construction, said in a phone interview Friday.
He referred to macfactcheck.com as the source for any additional information and comment on behalf of MAC.
According to the website, there has been misinformation published about the company on the Internet, highway billboards and other media. The site claims that Laborers Local 795 “launched this campaign because MAC, a non-union company, has expanded its business operations in Kentuckiana.”
According to the MAC site, the company provides competitive wages and dependable benefits to more than 200 employees in Indiana and Kentucky, and that Laborers Local 795 reported a decline in membership of 19 percent over the last five years and “is apparently frustrated by MAC’s success.”
David Williams, director of the Indiana Construction Network, said obviously MAC would consider its wages fair.
“It’s up to workers to decide if it’s competitive,” he said, adding that it’s also the employees who make the choice to form a union, not the employer.
The National Labor Relations Board hearing will start at 10 a.m. in the Paoli Town Hall Council Room. The hearing could extend for consecutive days beyond Feb. 8 if needed, according to the complaint notice.
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