Union targets two LV sites

Kevin Rademacher

Friday, Aug. 22, 2003 | 11:48 a.m.

A labor dispute has drawn a pair of Las Vegas-area property owners into a confrontation with the Carpenters Union.

Member of the Carpenters Local 1977 of Las Vegas are displaying a protest sign in front of the under-construction Hofbrauhaus beer hall at Paradise Road and Harmon Avenue. Union members also are protesting the St. Rose Professional Park construction project at Eastern Avenue and St. Rose Parkway.

Dan O'Shea, an organizer for the Carpenters Union, said the protests are calling attention to the use of subcontractors that he said do not meet union standards.

The property owners, however, said the union has mistakenly targeted them.

"I am really not happy about what they are doing there," said Stefan Gastager, president of HBavaria LLC, owner of the Hofbrauhaus. "We have a fixed-price contract with the general contractor, R&O Construction. They hire the subcontractors.

"Now, the union comes and says 'shame on Hofbrauhaus.' They should say 'shame on R&O Construction."'

O'Shea said the union is protesting the presence of Las Vegas-based drywall subcontractor Pete King Corp. on the Hofbrauhaus job site and Ogden Valley Drywall of Las Vegas at Park One Properties LLC's office complex project.

Victor Park, principal of Park One, echoed the statements of Gastager.

"This is harassing," said Park. "Park One LLC did not hire Ogden Valley. Breslin Builders (the general contractor) did. ... They have a big problem with this company, not with us."

O'Shea disagreed.

"Companies that are going to make a lot of money in this town have a responsibility to be a good community member," he said.

The subcontractors, by paying low wages, gain a competitive advantage when bidding for jobs, he added, creating a weaker market for employees.

O'Shea said laborers for Pete King are making between $14-17 an hour and Ogden Valley workers make between $12-17 an hour. Union workers would earn about $26 an hour.

There are about 7,000 Carpenters Union members in the Las Vegas area and about 600 are unemployed, he said.

"This isn't a union or non-union issue," O'Shea said. "It's about workers. ... Instead of getting a job based on ability and being a good contractor, they are getting a job based on being cheapest."

Barbara Taylor, a spokeswoman for Ogden, Utah-based R&O Construction, said no union subcontractors bid for the job won by Pete King.

"We take the lowest, most-qualified bidder," she said.

Peter King and Ogden Valley Drywall could not be reached for comment. Las Vegas-based Breslin Builders declined comment.

Gastager said the move to protest against the property owner could be driven by the union's desire for publicity.

"R&O Construction, not many people know," he said. "But Hofbrauhaus, everybody knows. ... I think this is damaging to the name Hofbrauhaus. ... We didn't do anything wrong."

The union's presence at Hofbrauhaus is not going to end with construction, O'Shea said.

"We will be there when they open it. We will be there after they open it," he said. "We are going to spend a lot of time and resources on letting people know what Hofbrauhaus thinks of the local construction industry."