WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Representatives of the Rochester Building & Construction Trades Council were joined by New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento at a rally that was held late last week outside the Fairlife Milk Processing Plant in Webster, where Union Leadership spoke out about out-of-town Workers being employed on the $650 million project that is being assisted with taxpayer dollars from the Monroe County Industrial Development Agency and New York State’s Empire State Development Group.  Pictured above, from left to right: Rochester-Genesee Valley AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation President Dan Maloney; New York State Senator Jeremy Cooney; New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento; and Grant Malone, President of the Rochester Building & Construction Trades Council.   (Top Photo Courtesy Of The New York State AFL-CIO’s Facebook Page/Bottom Photo Courtesy Of Rochester Building & Construction Trades Council President Grant Malone)

(WEBSTER, NEW YORK) – Grant Malone, the President of the Rochester Building & Construction Trades Council, tells WNYLaborToday.com he is very concerned about Worker safety at the Fairlife Milk Processing Plant Construction Project in Webster since the designated site contractor - Zoladz Construction of Alden, New York, has had two Worker deaths occur on jobs it has been involved with over the past several years.

“We are aware of two in New York State, including one on a Batavia project that Zoladz was involved in, which occurred within the last year or so,” Malone told WNYLaborToday.com. 

“We are concerned over Worker safety, makes no difference if a Worker is Union or Non-Union.  We are asking our Elected Leaders, the Governor and the general public ‘if they are okay with this and having a contractor with such a track record involved in such a massive local project as Fairlife.’  ‘So far, we’re not getting any replies,’” an angry Malone said.

The Rochester Building Trades joined with a host of Elected Officials and welcomed New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento to a rally the Construction Unions held on Friday (November 17th) that was conducted outside the Fairlife Facility on Tebor Road.

During the rally, Rochester Trades Leadership also called attention to the problem that out-of-town Workers are being brought in to work on the $650 million, 745,000-square-foot Fairlife Dairy Production Facility - which is said to be the largest development project in the history of Monroe County.

In 2017, Zoladz settled a case with the U.S. Department of Justice concerning allegations that the company falsely presented itself as a Service-Disabled/Veteran-Owned Company in order to obtain an advantage on Federal Contracts.  

Zoladz Construction agreed to pay $3 million fine as part of that settlement agreement.

In addition, representatives of the New York Foundation for Fair Contracting (NYFFC) – a non-profit Fair Contracting Organization, have made WNYLaborToday.com aware in the past of Zoladz’s troubling Worker safety record (For More, Go To: https://www.wnylabortoday.com/news/2019/06/02/buffalo-and-western-new-york-labor-news/the-new-york-foundation-for-fair-contracting-applauds-erie-county-s-decision-to-enforce-lowest-responsible-bidder-law-contractor-with-troubling-record-which-included-worker-deaths-will-not-be-awarded-contract/)  

In the past three years, the NYFFC said, two Workers lost their lives in Zoladz workplace accidents. 

In a case that just closed in April 2019, the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) fined Zoladz more than $40,000 for serious violations in relation to the 2018 fatality. 

OSHA considers a violation to be serious “when the workplace hazard could cause an accident or illness that would most likely result in death or serious physical harm.”

Malone said he was aware of a second Worker death on a Zoladz construction site that occurred over the past year or so, this time in Batavia.

Meanwhile, Cilento making the trip from Albany to Rochester to participate in the Trades’ rally must have caught the eye of Governor Kathy Hochul, whose representatives have told the Statewide AFL-CIO President they would be reaching out directly to the Rochester Trades, Malone said.

“President Cilento ‘made it clear’ while speaking at the rally that ‘it was our understanding there were no local people being employed on the Fairlife project,’” Malone said.  “That also means there are ‘no’ Prevailing Wages being paid there.  The Elected Officials who were there also spoke and ‘said it was a shame the company wasn’t working with’ the Rochester Trades.  Because of that, there is ‘no standard wages or benefits being paid to the Workers,’ there is ‘no’ diversity and there are ‘no’ Apprentices (employed there).  ‘Without Unions on site, there is no way to verify these things.’”

A subsidiary of Coca-Cola Company, Fairlife reportedly makes a range of milk-based beverages through an ultra-filtration process that removes lactose and much of the sugar, and leaves behind more of the protein and calcium.

The Fairlife project, which is expected to be completed by 2025, is expected to create 250 full-time jobs and more than 500 during the construction phase, Monroe County Officials have said.

Meanwhile, the Monroe Industrial Development Agency (IDA) in October voted unanimously to approve more than $63 million in tax breaks for the Fairlife facility in Webster.

And according to The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, in addition to the IDA tax breaks, Empire State Development is providing up to $21 million in assistance through the performance-based Excelsior Jobs Tax Credit Program in exchange for job-creation commitments.

And, the Monroe County Industrial Development Corporation is also seeking a $20 million capital grant to fund power and infrastructure costs for the project.

During the first phase of site work, which Zoladz is involved in, there are as many as 10 Operators working there, according to Malone, who also serves as District Manager of International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 158/District 832 - whose Members would be working on the project had it gone Union.

“The Engineers and the Laborers plan on picketing the site during the next three to five months that it takes to complete,” Malone told WNYLaborToday.com.  “This project ‘should be employing local people and we will do even more to make sure that happens.’”

Joining Rochester Trades Representatives and State AFL-CIO President Cilento at Friday’s rally were: Rochester-Genesee Valley AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation President Dan Maloney; New York State Senators Samra Brouk and Jeremy Cooney; State Assembly Members Harry Bronson and Jen Lunsford; and Monroe County Legislator Mark Johns.

For More On the Rochester Building Trades Rally, Go To: Unions Pushing For Labor Pact On Webster Fairlife Project | WXXI News