Omni Hotel workers walk off, say they were shortchanged $20 an hour

Thomas Novelly | Courier Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Virtual tour of Louisville's Omni Hotel Take a virtual tour through what the finished Omni Hotel will look like.

After going on strike several weeks ago, nearly 100 immigrant construction workers at the Omni Hotel walked off the job again Friday morning, claiming they are being paid $20 an hour less than other workers.

Labor attorney David Suetholz said most of the migrant workers are being paid $18 to $26 an hour, while others still on the job are making $35 to $45 an hour.

In an attempt to fight for their jobs and negotiate a prevailing wage, the workers are seeking to join the carpenters union to negotiate their wage dispute.

Contractors and employers for the Omni Hotel project in downtown Louisville chose not to provide a prevailing wage for migrant workers, a revelation that surprised some Metro Council members.

Suetholz showed the Courier-Journal a change order between Florida-based company Brasfield & Gorrie, the general contractor on the project, and Georgia-based Performance Commercial Contractors, the employer for the carpenters on the project, that states they no longer needed to provide a prevailing wage.

“The purpose of B&G writing this change order to your firm is to notify you directly that you will no longer be required to pay prevailing wages beyond the week ending May 14,” the document states.

Sneak peek: Tour inside the new Omni Hotel

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Tracey Sibley, a vice president and spokeswoman for Brasfield & Gorrie, stated that the company stands behind its original statement on May 24 that said, "all employees on the project site are being paid appropriately based upon the wage requirements which are applicable to this project."

In a news release on May 25, carpenters union supporters said the strikers walked off the job initially after "their discovery that they were being paid up to $20 less per hour than other workers doing the same job."

On May 26, the laborers agreed to go back to work but demanded a sit-down meeting with Brasfield & Gorrie.

Councilwoman Barbra Sexton Smith, who represents downtown, said she was disappointed in the recent debate over the laborers' wages.

“I stated recently in a council meeting that there needs to be equal pay for equal work," she said. "It’s important that all workers on this project are properly compensated as stated in previous understandings and commitments.”

She said the dispute could be "destructive to families and must be addressed immediately."

Suetholtz said that Brasfield & Gorrie implied during a two-day hearing in Cincinnati this week that local laborers would be fired from the job site in July.

“The workers are protesting a threat to fire in July every person who was locally hired," Suetholtz said. "They said they were only going to keep the workers that came up from Georgia.”

More: Louisville Omni Hotel construction workers walk off job in protest

Suetholtz said that joining a union would give the workers an edge with collective-bargaining measures.

"If they won that election, the employers would have a legal obligation to sit down and negotiate with the carpenters," Suetholtz said.

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The project, which includes a massive hotel, apartment, grocery, retail and parking, is estimated to cost more than $300 million. While scheduled to be completed in mid-2018, the frequent protests could cause delays.

“It is my hope that this will be resolved to the full satisfaction of the workers so that the project can proceed in a way that we will all be proud of,” Sexton said.



Reach Reporter Thomas Novelly at 502-582-4465 or by email at tnovelly@courier-journal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly.