(NEW YORK CITY) - Crews worked through the weekend to stabilize the Midtown Office Building where two structural columns buckled last week, as New York City's Department of Buildings (DOB) announced the implementation of additional safety measures.

The DOB said contractors are working around the clock in shifts to install additional support inside 235 East 42nd Street and to construct an exterior netting enclosure along the building's north side.

East 43rd Street between Second and Third avenues remains closed and vacate orders for several neighboring buildings remain in effect while they continue to evaluate next steps. 

In the days since the columns buckled and the area was evacuated on July 7th, a chorus of Union Officials have derided the use of Non-Union labor at the site by the building's owner and developer MetroLoft.

"My team sees it all the time," said Michael Piccirillo an Area Standards Manager with the New York City District Council of Carpenters. "You have projects like this that are (100%) Non-Union. The Workers are afraid to speak up. They're afraid to be deported and these contractors know that."

Tafador Sourov, an Organizer with the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA), posted on Social Media that Workers without Union Representation are often reluctant to report unsafe conditions.

"The root of it all starts with Workers not having a voice on the job," Sourov said, arguing Non-Union construction sites are more likely to cut corners on safety.

Billy Erwin, Market Development Director for Laborers Local 79, contrasted Union Apprenticeship Programs with Non-Union training: "We train everybody. You don't do profit over safety. Your wallet is not important over someone's safety."

To Continue Reading This Labor News Story, Go To: Midtown towers' safety record, nonunion status scrutinized - The Chief