Pictured Above: Collins & Brown Senior Partner William Collins (left) talks to two members of Bricklayers & Allied Craftsworkers Local 3 – Tim Wilde (in yellow shirt) and Gene McAndrews (in blue shirt) - outside the Buffalo Labor Law Firm’s North Street headquarters.  Collins & Brown is spending $400,000 with R.E. Kelley, Inc. – a Union-Represented, full-service exterior masonry restoration and maintenance company – to restore the outside of its building that was originally constructed in 1885 and is located just off Elmwood Avenue in the City of Buffalo. (Photo provided to WNYLaborToday.com by Collins & Brown Labor Representative Timothy Heyden)

(BUFFALO) – Unfortunately, there are some businesses here in Western New York that do business with Organized Labor that treat or view their relationship as a one-way street, including some that will gladly work with Labor - but when it comes time to enlisting their services - look elsewhere.

Not true when it comes to the Buffalo Labor Law Firm of Collins & Brown, which has hired Union-Represented R.E. Kelley, Inc. – a full-service exterior masonry restoration and maintenance company – to handle its $400,000 restoration project at its historic North Street headquarters located just down the street from Elmwood Avenue in the City of Buffalo.

“Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any other of our vendors who’ve reached out and spent that kind of money - not to this extent, and we’re extremely happy over the fact that Collins and Brown is using one of our contractors,” Local 3 Vice President Rick Williamson tells WNYLaborToday.com, adding the project equates to 2,000 man-hours of time. 

Such a high-level of investment has placed Collins & Brown in the realm of not only talking the talk of using Union-Represented services and craftsmen, but walking the walk when it comes to doing so, said Williamson, who also made it a point to say there are many other area Union vendors across the Western New York Community that have failed to do the same over the years.  And, he says, it serves as a real example of a major commitment made by a Union-friendly business that has make a conscious decision to hire a Union vendor to do the job, while - at the same time – helping to put Union Members to work.

“From time to time, you will see a (non-Union) truck outside a (Union) vendor,” Williamson said.  “We know what ‘they’re’ doing and (Collins & Brown) certainly could have looked at non-Union contractors.  But our Union Members are the best at doing what they do.  They’re artisans and we’re thankful Collins and Brown has contracted them to do the work.”

The restoration project, which has been going on since late last year, entails working with special stonework, cleaners and grouts – products that the Union Craftsmen at Bricklayers Local 3 know how to work with, after receiving years of training in the field.

“The work needed the skills of our members.  It’s a private business.  They could have decided just to put a band-aid on it.  They could have just decided to patch it up, but the work was substantial and they did the right thing,” Williamson said.

What can only be-described as a historic mansion that has been recognized by the Buffalo Preservation Society as one of the city’s many architectural and historic gems, the structure was originally constructed in 1885, according to Collins & Brown Senior Partner William Collins, who has been with the firm for more than 25 years.

“Our firm has been a big supporter of Organized Labor and we have a beneficial relationship with a number of Labor Unions.  We’ve made a decision to ‘give back’ over the years because of the work we do with Labor,” Collins tells WNYLaborToday.com.

“We’re doing our part to beautify a part of Buffalo and we’re spending a fortune in the outside rehabilitation of this building.  In fact, it’s the first time this work involving the entire exterior has been done since the building was constructed.  It had never been touched,” he said.

Questioned why Collins & Brown made the decision to hire a Union Contractor to do the job, Collins answered: “There was no reason to do this cheaply.  It’s all about the quality of the work and working ‘with’ Labor – we decided to go the extra mile.”

Collins & Brown has been serving the Western New York Labor Community and Union Members and their families for more than 50 years.  The law firm’s roots can be traced back to 1957 when it was founded by the late John T. Collins, whose philosophy of having a “concern for people and a commitment to family” remains the heart and soul of the firm.

Collins & Brown offers a variety of legal and representational services involving work-related accidents, construction site injuries, automobile and motorcycle accidents, wrongful death, premise liability, Social Security Disability, Workers’ Compensation, New York State Unemployment, occupational illness, and Mesothelioma and Asbestos exposure.

As stated in its mission statement, which appears on its website, Collins & Brown “continues its pledge to fight for the rights of those who have been taken advantage of, to persist in our role as a legal watchdog, to protect our clients from unsafe work environments, and to work hard to secure stable futures for our clients and their families.”