NY: Teamster local 282, the concrete drivers, back to work with tenative agreement, ending 10 day strike

“The strike is officially over. Workers will be back to work on Monday.” -Carolyn Daly, a spokeswoman for IBT Local 282

Steven Greenhouse at The NY Times (7/11/08) reports:

The union local representing striking concrete truck drivers in New York City announced on Thursday night that it had reached a tentative contract with the city’s concrete producers.

Carolyn Daly, a spokeswoman for the union, which has been on strike since July 2, said: “The strike is officially over. Workers will be back to work on Monday.”

The strike, which affected 450 concrete-mixing trucks, has halted or greatly slowed construction at scores of projects across the city, including the Freedom Tower at ground zero; the Second Avenue subway; the new Yankee Stadium; Citi Field, the ballpark that will replace Shea Stadium; and many high-rise apartment buildings.

Ms. Daly said the union, Local 282 of the Teamsters, and the Association of New York City Concrete Producers reached the agreement after three days of intense negotiations.

On Thursday afternoon, the Quadrozzi Concrete Corporation, which provides concrete for the Freedom Tower, among other major projects, announced that it had reached an agreement with Local 282.

John Quadrozzi Jr., president of Quadrozzi Concrete, said his company, which has 50 trucks, decided it would be better to negotiate independently of the concrete producers’ association.

“We reached an understanding and I think everyone’s happy about it,” he said. “Most important, we’ll get concrete to our sites, starting tomorrow.”

Neither management nor the union would discuss details of the association’s settlement or the separate Quadrozzi agreement.

Read it in it's entirety at the Times

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Using untrained immigrant workers that caused 4 deaths in a crane accident gets supervisor 2 years in jail and total fines of $41,000

Finally a good judgment, right to the point: If you use untrained immigrant workers, you go to jail.

You would think that it would be a score one for the 'good guys', and you would be right, the only bad part is that this story didn't take place in the United states and it took 4 deaths and 3 injuries to bring this to light.

From the far away land of Qatar in the Persian Gulf region, "Jail sentence for supervisor" (7/6/08) - Gulf Times

A Doha court has sentenced a construction site supervisor to two years imprisonment for “negligence that led to an accident” which killed four workers and injured three others last year.

The Syrian and the company that employed him were also fined QR20,000 each. The company was made the second accused in the case.

The court ordered the Syrian, the company and the insurance firm to jointly pay QR150,000 as bloodmoney to the families of three of the victims. The family of the fourth victim had not put up any claim for bloodmoney during the trial and the court said that they can file a claim for it at a later stage in a civil court.

A witness told the court how a crane tilted and fell at a worksite near the West Bay on March 19, 2007, burying four workers and injuring three, two of them critically.
He said the workers were involved in a “complicated operation” at around 6pm when the accident occurred. An engineer representing the company,said the crane was imported from China and was being operated for the first time.

The court found the supervisor guilty of assigning the work to a batch of untrained workers, who were not qualified to do the job.

The judge, Mamon Hamour, said that the company committed a fatal mistake when it assigned such complicated work to an inexperienced supervisor, the first accused in the case.

The victims were identified as three Filipinos aged 20, 40 and 48 and an Indian (25).

Now theres one we can learn on, lets get that blood money and jail time here.

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In Tennesee and in New England, Carpenters picket against 1099 Misclassification

Different ideals, different places, the song remains the same, local behemoth business using 1099 misclassification abuse to lower the standards of local living wages, while in New York they threaten their nonunion workforce with guns, threats and empty promises if they chose to be in a union, screwing workers is big business. Screwing the public by allowing us to subsidize their legal employer responsibility is a tragedy.

From "Rough Carpentry: Local Carpenters Union wages an ongoing battle with Proffitt & Sons" TN (7/2/08) - UBC LU 40

The community is Hardin Valley; Murphy and fellow union member Shane Monroe are stationed on Hardin Valley Road a short distance from the Pellissippi Parkway interchange in front of The Village, an in-progress mixed-use residential/commercial development that will be anchored by a major grocery chain. Murphy and Monroe are seated in fold-out chairs on either end of a 5 foot by 15 foot banner that says, in big red block letters, “Shame on Jake Pinkston.” Pinkston is head of Pinkston Construction, the Village contractor.

Murphy says the union is protesting Pinkston’s use of drywall contractors Proffitt & Sons, for not meeting “area labor standards.” The union’s hope is that passers-by will call Pinkston Construction and protest their employment of the subcontractor.

According to Carpenters Union Director of Organizing Robert Helton, the union isn’t seeking an agreement with Proffitt & Sons, but merely to see the contractor improve pay and benefits packages for workers.

“They’re lowering standards for all carpenters in the Knoxville area,” he says. “We’d like to see them change their practices.”

Helton charges that Proffitt & Sons doesn’t pay what the union considers a fair wage, doesn’t pay benefits to many of its workers, and is engaged in using an inordinate number of 1099 independent contractors, rather than using full-time employees who are entitled to worker’s compensation and unemployment benefits.

“By law, you can’t use that many independent contractors on your site,” he says. “Somebody has to be an employee.”

Helton says the union’s efforts have been ongoing since January; in addition to the Pinkston site, he says they have picketed five other sites in the area, including one for the University of Tennessee (the sign for which says “Shame on John Petersen”) and for Blount Memorial Hospital in Blount County.

Charlie from UBCNewsroom posted a story about whats happening in New England "N.E. Carpenters Union Hits AvalonBay’s CEO, Fliers Target Developer’s Hiring Practices" (6/30/08):

The New England carpenters union is taking aim at a national real estate investment trust and its $7 million-a-year chief executive, Hingham resident Bryce Blair, in an effort to expose what the union calls “the underground economy.”

While some people debate the impact of undocumented workers on construction sites, unions and government officials are going after the companies that they say pay their workers in cash and, in doing so, commit insurance and tax fraud.

Since May, members of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters have been in Hingham handing out fliers with a photo of AvalonBay Communities’ CEO Blair.

“When you see Bryce Blair around town,” the flier states, “thank him for overbuilding the town, hurting the town by using contractors that practice tax and insurance fraud, and just being an unscrupulous guy.”

Carpenters Local 424 Business Manager Rick Braccia said the group has distributed 1,200 fliers in downtown Hingham and at the job site, Avalon at Hingham Shipyard.

“AvalonBay hides behind the fact that they tell their contractors they will not allow illegality, but the reality is, there is no oversight on the job by AvalonBay,” he said.

For example, in December 2006, OSHA reported that Shawnlee Construction, an AvalonBay subcontractor at its Newton and Danvers job sites, exposed employees to fall hazards.

In March 2007, Oscar I. Pintado, a 27-year-old carpenter from Ecuador, was killed when he fell at an AvalonBay project in Woburn. Union officials say he was being paid in cash and was working without workers compensation coverage.

In April, Eric Frumin of Change to Win, a partnership of seven unions, told a congressional committee on workplace safety that AvalonBay sites are unsafe.

The Virginia-based real estate investment trust, formed in 1993, manages 52,167 apartments. In Massachusetts, the company has 5,000 apartments. Most are in multifamily, wood-frame buildings.

In Hingham, AvalonBay is building apartments at the former shipyard.

After union carpenters built a clubhouse and one building on the site, carpenters union organizer Mario Mejia said he met workers from Mexico who were brought to Massachusetts from Virginia. Mejia said the workers are living in Devens and are being transported by their bosses in a van to work every day. They are paid $150 in cash each day, he said.

AvalonBay did not respond to a request for comment on Mejia’s statements.

Meanwhile, on the streets of Hingham, Braccia said public response has been “surprisingly in our favor.

“We do get people who think this is strictly a union issue, and think we aren’t getting the job, so we are angry,” he said.

“We tell them, ‘It doesn’t have to be union, but it does have to be legal.’ ”

More info at the sites below

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Seattle, WA: Fighting for the next generation, Sprinklerfitters Local 699 go on strike

A member of the local floor coverings union pickets Wednesday, along with members of the Sprinkler Fitters Union Local 699.-DEAN J. KOEPFLER/THE NEWS TRIBUNE

From Gangbox "SEATTLE SPRINKLER FITTERS LOCAL 699 GOES ON STRIKE - contractors will ask other trades to work behind their picketline next week" (7/3/08)

“We’ve gotten as many phone calls from other trades supporting us, telling us they’re right behind us and they’re going to stick with us as long as it takes, so that’s what’s going to make this go sooner,” Collins said. “The contractors want us to go backward as far as our contracts go, and we’re not accepting that. With inflation going on the way it’s gone in the past few years, we’re way behind the eight ball.”

The sprinkler fitters earn about $24 to $30 an hour, and apprentices start out at less than half of those wages. That wage doesn’t include holiday, vacation or sick pay. Apprenticeships last five years, and apprentices receive health benefits in their third year, Collins said.

Mike Dahl, union business manager, said a big issue was the wages of apprentices.

“We’re looking to have not a great standard of living but just that they can afford to live,” he said. “We don’t like the economic impact on the economy here of what we’re doing. We hope this settles very soon.”

SocialistWorker.org adds in "Strike shuts down Seattle building sites"(7/4/08):

The strikers know what they are up against. Sam Bond, a member of Local 699 for nine years, said in an interview, "We have got to keep up with what's going in the world. As prices go up, we have to stay up on it, so we can afford the lifestyle we want to live. This strike is really important for us, and for future generations of sprinkler fitters."

Ironworkers, electricians, laborers, operating engineers, as well as delivery drivers like UPS workers are just some of the union workers who have refused to cross the picket lines.

At the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Wash., the strike has shut down completely nine huge tower cranes, with upwards of 800 workers getting an unexpected extra long holiday weekend.

The union is reporting that not a single member has crossed the picket line so far. A unanimous strike authorization vote and the "last, best, and final" offer from the employers' organization, the National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA), was voted down 219 to 14.

It's been nearly two years since a major construction workers strike hit the Seattle area. In August 2006, concrete workers who were members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302 paralyzed most of the industry for a month. Those workers won a contract that included pay raises of $3.95 an hour over three years and, crucially, allowed them to honor strike picket lines held by other union trades.

The importance of that strike victory is now magnified. The basic labor idea of "an injury to one is an injury to all" has been highlighted by the solidarity of all the building trade workers refusing to cross the sprinkler fitters' picket line.

As one Local 699 striker put it, "The support we're getting is unbelievable. To be able to have all the trades honor the picket line also helps them out more when their contract times come up."

Heads high brothers, hope you get the $14 over 3 and the better apprentice package, to those that do not know the $14 is cumulative of all health, welfare, pension, etc., meaning it doesn't go into the pocket, the majority usually gets invested in other necessities.

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NY concrete drivers walk, Peterbuilt workers locked out, USW massive Vegas solidarity with Taxi driver demonstration, LIUNA "Build America" petition

• Drivers’ Strike Stalls New York City Construction - 7/2/08 - NY Times

The two sides engaged in intense bargaining until 12:30 a.m. Tuesday at Local 282’s headquarters in Lake Success, N.Y., but then the union informed the concrete companies that it was walking out. The contract expired at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

“Teamsters Local 282 regrets that it was unable to reach an agreement,” Bruce Levine, the lead lawyer for the union, said in a statement. “Local 282 is particularly disappointed because in the past month, it has succeeded in reaching innovative, far-reaching and fair agreements with hundreds of employers” that handle demolition as well as lumber, steel and other non-concrete building materials.

Construction is continuing at nonunion projects, which are generally smaller than the unionized sites affected by the strike. Work continued at some unionized sites where all the concrete had been poured, allowing laborers to do interior work or work on heating and air-conditioning.

Mr. Greco, who is also the secretary-treasurer of the Greco Brothers Concrete Corporation, said that under the expired contract, drivers earned $33.11 an hour, rising to $59.01 when health insurance, pension contributions and other benefits are included.

He said the union earlier this week demanded raises of $5 an hour in the overall compensation package each year for three years, although the union did not specify how much would go to wages and how much to benefits..

Mr. Greco said that during Monday’s bargaining, Gary La Barbera, Local 282’s president, reduced that demand to $3.50 an hour.

“They didn’t give us a chance to answer the $3.50 package before they walked out,” Mr. Greco said.

That $3.50 would represent a 6 percent increase in the drivers’ $59-an-hour compensation package.

“That is absolutely not a correct number or a correct version of events,” said a member of the union’s bargaining team, who insisted on anonymity because union officials said they would not negotiate in the news media. “And I’m surprised that a member of management’s bargaining team would be saying these things in public.”

Local 282 had long been notorious because the Gambino crime family controlled it for decades. But government officials placed it into trusteeship, and Mr. La Barbera was brought in to help root out corruption. Government officials say the cleanup has been quite successful.
More at the link above, article by Steven Greenhouse, Picture by Rob Bennett

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• Peterbilt workers still locked out - 06/30/08 - Workers Independent News
  

A lockout of United Auto Worker members continues at a Peterbilt plant in Madison, Tennessee. The workers have been locked out since last Monday. Their contract expiring on Friday, June 20. The two sides have been unable to reach an agreement. The local representing the workers has expressed that it would like to sit down and continue negotiations, but no new discussions have been set. The company is asking workers to pay 25 percent of health insurance premiums, a move that could triple premiums for some workers. The company has offered to pay each worker a $1,200 bonus when the new contract is ratified, in exchange for a wage freeze until 2010. The contract would also institute a two-tier wage structure where new hires would start at much lower rate than predecessors.

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• Ignorant America: Just How Stupid Are We? - 7/2/08 - AlterNet
  

Today, conservatives argue that the Social Security Trust Fund is a fiction. They are correct. The money was spent. They helped spend it.

To this debate about Social Security -- which, once one understands what has been happening, is actually quite absorbing -- the public has largely been an indifferent spectator. A surprising 2001 Pew study found that just 19% of Americans understand that the United States ever ran a surplus at all, however defined, in the 1990s or 2000's. And only 50% of Americans, according to an Annenberg study in 2004, understand that President Bush favors privatizing Social Security. Polls indicate that people are scared that the system is going bust, no doubt thanks in part to Bush's gloom-and-doom prognostications. But they haven't the faintest idea what going bust means. And in fact, the system can be kept going without fundamental change simply by raising the cap on taxed income and pushing back the retirement age a few years.
Rick Shenkman, Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter, New York Times bestselling author, and associate professor of history at George Mason University, is the founder and editor of History News Network, a website that features articles by historians on current events. This essay is adapted from chapter two of his new book, Just How Stupid Are We? Facing the Truth about the American Voter (Basic Books, 2008). His observations about the 2008 election can be followed on his blog, "How Stupid?" His recent appearance on Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" can be viewed by clicking here.

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• USW Convention Delegates Support Vegas Taxi Drivers -7/1/08- USW website

Thousands of USW members chanting “No Justice, No Peace” lined Las Vegas Boulevard outside the union’s convention hall this morning to support union taxi cab drivers who have been working without a labor contract.

USW members waving yellow placards lined the boulevard to show their support for the 5,000 member Las Vegas Alliance for Taxi and Limousine Drivers and to raise the heat in stalled contract negotiations.
The alliance is a partnership of the USW and the Industrial Technical Professional Employees Union (ITPE) local, an affiliate of the Office and Professional Employees International Union.

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• Sign the Petition to Build America - 6/30/08- CTWConnect
  

It's no secret that America's infrastructure is crumbling. But, you may wonder, is anyone doing anything about it? And is there any way you can help?

Someone is, and you can. The Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) has launched a new campaign called "Build America So America Works" that's calling for the Federal government to finally do something about our crumbling infrastructure. And to promote awareness of the campaign, they've just launched this new TV spot

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• Worker Abuse Not Just North Carolina's Problem -7/1/08- Women, Unions, and Our Stories

According to a press release sent out by the Justice at Smithfield campaign:

Washington, DC Councilmembers Phil Mendelson, Muriel Bowser, Jack Evans, Harry Thomas, Marion Barry, Kwame Brown, Jim Graham and Tommy Wells will introduce a Sense of the Council resolution on Smithfield Foods today that asks area supermarkets, corner stores and other establishments to stop stocking Smithfield pork and other meat products.

Washington, DC is one of the largest markets for products from the Smithfield Tar Heel, North Carolina plant--which has been implicated in abuse of its workers. The DC council members and supports first pledged to help on June 20th, after a kickoff rally on the 19th for the boycott and ad campaign. As the Washington Post reported then:

"Our work here is to make Smithfield uncomfortable," council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) said in an interview.

Here's one of the television ads the campaign has created:

You can find out more about the abuses at Smithfield, Tar Heel, and sign up to help at http://www.smithfieldjustice.com/.

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Also take a look at "Pic- Links for the hell of it" - for more recent labor headlines

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NYC Comptroller Thompson, supports new construction laws and audits DOB

“Workers on public projects deserve and are lawfully entitled to the same wages as those who labor in the private sector,” Thompson said. “Our prevailing wage laws are important to taxpayers who want high-quality construction work done safely and at a reasonable price. These laws are critical to workers who want to make a decent living and work in safe conditions, and important to honest contractors who want to compete fairly for jobs.”

Whether it be speaking against Housing Authority budget cuts that screw 500,000 New Yorkers, speaking in front of a packed union hall full of construction workers of how he will defend prevailing wage and punish those that choose to break those laws, or speaking in front of City Hall urging Mayor Bloomberg and the state to "Keep the Promises" on education funding, one thing is clear, that this son of a judge and a public school teacher and native Brooklyn resident, New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., is continuing to fight tooth and nail for working class families and all who work in this city.


New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. joined the Keep the Promises Coalition at a City Hall rally on June 16, 2008 to protest proposed budget cuts to New York City public schools. Photo credit: Marla S. Maritzer

Thompson has had 2 press releases in the past 24 hours that show how he is fighting for construction workers, and fighting for us is not a new event. In fact since 2002, Comptroller Thompson has debarred 28 contractors from doing business with the City and State and assessed $5,832,416 in back wages and benefits and $833,282 in penalties.

Yesterday, Donna from Teamsters Local 237 pointed out a press release by Mr. Thompson which shows his strong support for 3 recent Bill's, such as NYS Assembly #11676, which according to the press release, would close loopholes in the labor laws that allow contractors and subcontractors who fail to comply with prevailing wage settlements and final orders to continue to bid on, and be awarded, public contracts. Similarly, the bill would allow the State Commissioner of Labor or the New York City Comptroller to seek to debar contractors who willfully obstruct a labor law investigation.

Check out the press release entitled "THOMPSON PUSHES FOR STRONGER LABOR LAWS (6/23/08)"

The second which I just stumbled upon today, is the comptrollers audit of the NY Dept. Of Buildings, in which Thompson states "“It is simply unacceptable that DOB has permitted buildings with multiple open hazardous violations to go un-inspected for years, even by DOB’s own admission these are the worst cases, yet it has stood by and let the violations go unchecked and put New Yorkers at risk.”

Check out the press release entitled "THOMPSON AUDIT: BUILDINGS DEPARTMENT FAILING TO ENSURE HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS CORRECTED ACROSS THE CITY (6/23/08)" and the Letter to Mayor Bloomberg (PDF)

He's a guy I have met at my own union meetings and along with Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota, I was proud to say thank you and was glad I had a chance to shake their hand.

I leave you with his statements from March 20th. of this year at a UNITE HERE ceremony commemorating the 1911 fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory that killed 146 garment workers

"As we commemorate the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, we need to keep in mind that while much has been accomplished in the ninety-seven years since, more can and needs to be done to defend the rights and safety of our laborers.

As the guardian our City’s pension funds, I am inspired by organizations like UNITE HERE to work towards ensuring that the companies we invest in abide by fair labor practices.

I extend my deepest sympathies to the families of those brave victims. Your relatives did not die in vain. The tragedy that took place here led to increased fire safety awareness and new standards in building codes that to this day have saved tens of thousands of lives over the years."

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Another worker hit by a car in a stop traffic zone, this time a firefighter

Unfortunately the Poughkeepsie Journal doesn't release names of those charged with misdemeanors. Now thats a stupid policy! This scum bag just couldn't wait and chose to ignore the road closure. The law just isn't good enough in this state when it comes to this type of crime.

There should be at least a minimum of 2 days in jail , and I don't know, say like 30 Points on your license, if you ignore safety officers or workers in the road who are directing traffic or closing lanes.

Better yet just kill* the scummers, these selfish bastards are impeding on our air supply.

From The Poughkeepsie Journal (6/16/08):

Police: Man angered by road closure strikes firefighter with car
LAGRANGE — A LaGrange firefighter was injured today, when an angry motorist allegedly hit him with his car as firefighters were blocking the roadway while responding to an accident.

Members of the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office responded along with the LaGrange Fire Department for a reported one-vehicle personal injury auto accident on Noxon Road.

While investigating the accident, fire department workers alerted an on-scene deputy of a problem with a motorist.

Investigation revealed a 41-year-old man living in the area had argued with firefighters who were trying to close Noxon Road to traffic. He was apparently angry at being inconvenienced by the road closure, and allegedly sped past firefighters, striking one firefighter’s arm with the side of his car, causing minor injury.

He was arrested and charged with misdemeanor obstructing governmental administration, misdemeanor assault and failure to comply with lawful order — a violation.

He was released on an appearance ticket and is due back in court later this month.

Filed under "Jackass"

Picture from Threeminds

My comment, if it remains that is:

Post the name! What good is this story if this jacka** cannot be ridiculed and looked down upon by his friends, family and neighbors. I myself have had to stop traffic and for the most part it was to the benefit of those that were being stopped. You know keeping them out of harms way. In todays society we have so many people who believe that they are all thats important. I know I'm just a construction worker telling you not to drive under multi-ton loads being lifted by monster cranes in NYC, I can see how insignificant I must be to you. But to not obey a firefighter at the scene of an accident, who is there to help someone in need, shows how despicable a human being this unnamed individual must be. I say if they think they are soooooo important that they will decide that absolutely no one else matters, the Poughkeepsie Journal shouldn't be holding back on the name. Give it up, be journalists.

(*--Joe-just kidding you know)

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NEW: Nontraditional Employment for Women and Yankee Stadium feature on NBC News

The slogan: NEW provides opportunities for women to achieve economic self-sufficiency through employment in nontraditional work

I was at the Bank of America project in NYC, when speaking to a Carpenter apprentice, I first learned about NEW: Nontraditional Employment for Women. She told me how they helped her and her sister to learn about the construction trades. She was very happy to be working as a NYC Carpenter. I kinda forgot about it for a while, because I was working and it was on an elevator and it was a quick conversation, I didn't grab all the facts. Fast forward a few months and I got a chance to speak with a Laborer on my latest job at lunch who proudly displayed her "NEW" shirt. I asked about the organization. She explained to me that it was like having a second union, how she learned exactly what it was like to work in the construction trades. The I noticed a bus shelter poster about NEW, unfortunately I was driving bye and didn't read it, someone should tell the DOT that these things are a major distraction to drivers. So now I decided to go online and learned that there is a ton of media about the organization.

NEW, while working with many local unions, isn't wholly centered on the Building and Construction Trades, they also work with Consolidated Edison, Keyspan, PSE&G, Time Warner, Amtrak, Greyhound Lines, MetroNorth Railroad, Norfolk Southern Railroad and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Heres the clips from MSNBC, from the NEW press:

NBC Nightly News, May 18, 2008
NBC Weekend Today, May 24, 2008

NEW was featured on the national edition of NBC Nightly News on Sunday, May 18, 2008 and NBC Weekend Today on Saturday, May 24, 2008.

The story follows Tamara Grant, an apprentice with Plumbers Local Union 1 of New York City and a proud NEW graduate, on the job at the new Yankee Stadium.

Tamara Grant talks candidly about her life prior to NEW and how the program helped her attain financial security for her family. The piece also features Lee Zaretzky, President of Ronsco, Inc., who discusses the importance of NEW in preparing women for the skilled trades.

In addition, NBC News has also posted two web-only videos. One expands on the interview with Tamara Grant, while the other is an interview with Kelly Housser, a NEW student, who emphasizes the effect that NEW has had on her life and her newfound confidence.

You can check out their site for more information

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E-Mail from the USA shows need for time consuming crane inspections

This is a good example of why tower cranes should be thoroughly examined, and more then just once or twice a year. Tower crane examinations require time and contractors are going to have to get used to it. - anonymous crane operator

A story for Scott

This crane operator, who after the deadly crane collapse in New York on May 30th., decided when he climbed his 450ft. tower crane that the first thing he was going to do was to check out the bolting system, what he found was distressing, heres part of the story, from Vertikal.net (6/2/08):

Don't put off till tomorrow, what you should do today

Before going to work at 5:15am I watched the news on the most recent NY crane accident and it was immediately apparent to me that the Slew-ring assembly had failed.

The first thing I did when I got to the top of the 450ft (136m) of 2003, tower crane was check the slew-ring bolts with a 2lb beater using minimum force. There are two rows of bolts, each row having 59.

With the crane balanced off, I started with the top row (slew bearing) and when I struck the third bolt it moved (loose), I continued checking and when I came to the 28th bolt it broke in two! I then went back to the bolt that had movement and decided to remove it for inspection, which revealed a severe crack at the same location as the one that sheared off.

Because of finding two bolts with a similar failure and the likelihood that there could be many more, I immediately put the crane out of operation. The manufacturer has been contacted and we're trying to arrange for a "Factory Engineer" to come out and thoroughly examine ALL the bolts, and if needed oversee the replacement of ALL slew-ring bolts. Which is the only certain solution!

I will admit that if not for this most recent event, I would not have gone through the extra effort/procedure needed to properly inspect a slew-ring. The typical way it's done by operators and inspectors is either just a "visual" while climbing through the slew-ring, or just a tap with a carpenters hammer, relying on your sense of sound to hear a difference between bolts.

The problem with this is that without balancing off the crane to ensure that the load on the bearing is distributed equally, you can't get a true sense that the bolts are equally tightened and torqued to the proper specifications. And that goes for mast bolts too!

Bottom line, it just doesn't tell the whole story, especially considering the potential for loss of life and property damage. These common, time-saving methods are just not enough for what's at risk. Like the old saying goes,” don’t put off till tomorrow, what you should do today"!

This is a good example of why tower cranes should be thoroughly examined, and more then just once or twice a year. Tower crane examinations require time and contractors are going to have to get used to it.

I was recently talking to a third party tower crane Inspector and he boasted that he can inspect a crane in three hours, easy money! In general a good tower crane thorough inspection should take at "least" six to eight hours (depending on configuration). And with all due respect to OSHA and others, "they are the Jack of all trades and master at none", and cannot be expected to have detailed knowledge of tower cranes.

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NY: City’s Top Crane Inspector Is Arrested

"this is what happens when u have someone making $50,000 in charge of handing out licenses worth millions to ventures worth billions."- Posted by atruh, in the comments

From The New York Times blog (6/6/08):

City’s Top Crane Inspector Is Arrested
By William K. Rashbaum

The city’s chief crane inspector was arrested on Friday and charged with taking bribes to approve cranes under his review and for taking money from crane operators who sought to ensure that they would pass the required licensing exam, an official involved in the case said.

James Delayo, the acting chief inspector for cranes and derricks at the city Department of Buildings, was in charge of overseeing the issuance of city licenses for crane operators. He is also facing charges that he provided a copy of the crane operator’s exam and the test answers to a crane company in exchange for $3,000, the official said.

Mr. Delayo, who is being prosecuted by the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, surrendered this morning to investigators from the city’s Department of Investigation, the official said. The city investigators developed the case.

The charges against Mr. Delayo will likely include receiving an unlawful gratuity and offering a false instrument for filing, the official said, and come just a week after the city’s second fatal tower crane collapse in 10 weeks.

The accusations, however, do not involve the inspections of the large tower cranes, like those that collapsed last Friday and March 15, but smaller machines, known as Class C cranes, the official said.

Investigators believe that Mr. Delayo, since at least 2002, signed off on the annual inspection of between 20 and 30 Class C cranes without conducting any examination in exchange for “several hundred dollars” apiece, the official said.

Check out the blog, some of the comments are right on the money

It’s amazing that after every high-profile construction accident, they find someone to arrest. It’s sad to think that there is no justice in the low-profile construction deaths. Somehow, I don’t think they will find anyone culpable in the most recent death, which took place at a construction site on St. Marks Avenue in Crown Heights.
— Posted by harriet

Amazing reply, I hinted that in my article on the most recent NY disaster "Crane collapse in New York, 2 dead, 2 critical", and heres something I was speaking about recently:

this is what happens when u have someone making $50,000 in charge of handing out licenses worth millions to ventures worth billions.
— Posted by atruh

*Image by Sheldon at Picasaweb
Big thanks to Chuck at UBCNewsroom for pointing out the video

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