Union protest targets water use by developers

Ed Koch and Launce Rake

Thursday, Nov. 6, 2003 | 9:25 a.m.

Teamsters and other union officials at a rally Wednesday said people should look beyond whatever differences organized labor may have with Southern Nevada homebuilders and concentrate on what they say is the real issue: Raising public awareness of water shortages caused by unchecked growth.

But while the policies of the Las Vegas Valley Water District and other regional water agencies were the immediate target of the protest, the home building companies were identified as the culprits by the unions.

As Ray Isner, political coordinator of Teamsters Local 631, addressed the news media, more than two dozen union workers carried signs in front of the Las Vegas Valley Water District and Southern Nevada Water Authority at 1001 S. Valley View Blvd., urging smart water use.

"This is not an issue of unions vs. non-unions -- it is an issue to raise the level of consciousness for the people in Nevada about water usage," Isner said. "We should not lose focus of that."

However, homebuilders and their allies noted that the Teamsters and associated unions have tried unsuccessfully for years to organize the residential construction industry, which uses mostly non-union labor.

"This is ludicrous," said Monica Caruso, spokeswoman for the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, which was the target of Teamsters pickets four weeks ago.

"The supply of housing is not keeping pace with demand, which is why prices are rising at 13 percent annually," Caruso said. The price of housing would go up more dramatically if the Teamsters were able to restrict the construction of new homes, she said.

"This isn't about water. Its about tapping into a hot issue," she said, noting the drought has been making news lately.

While the activists marched up and down Valley View and Charleston boulevards for two hours Wednesday, a three-man jazz combo from the Las Vegas Musicians Union Local 369 played to support the cause.

Frank Leone, president of the Musicians Union and a Las Vegas resident since 1967, said government officials have to take a stronger stand and not kowtow to the developers.

"We see evidence of uncontrolled growth time and time again," Leone said. "And in the end, people get sucker-punched."

Isner said the reason the protest took place at the water authority, which has little power to stop growth, was to catch the attention of the Clark County Commission and others in power.

"This may cost a few jobs now, but what will happen five to 10 years from now when building is forced to grind to a halt because there is no water and tens of thousands of jobs are lost?" Isner said.

However, when asked about the major hotels along the Strip -- some of which use large water displays that are subject to evaporation, Isner said there is no problem.

"The hotels clearly represent the largest group of employers and are not the issue here," Isner said. "Our issue is with the residential areas."

The union says the average family of four uses one acre-foot -- 325,851 gallons -- of water a year. Using the builders' projections, the union says the homebuilders will be adding a demand for another 7 billion gallons of water a year to the valley.

The union is asking where the money will come from to address that extra need. It theorizes that existing water users -- many of whom are retired and on fixed incomes -- will have to burden much of that cost via higher water bills.

Steve Bottfeld, executive vice president of Marketing Solutions, a Las Vegas company that analyzes local housing trends, said the growth is fueled by commercial development, which is heavily unionized, not residential.

"I respect unions, and I respect what unions are trying to do, but this is economic stupidity," he said. "When you stop building homes, you'll stop growth. When you stop growth, you lose jobs. When you lose jobs, your union means absolutely nothing.

"If the union wants to unionize the home building industry, then go after it straight ahead."

Some union members said they are sincere in their desire to save water, while admitting the are well aware of the political ramifications of the rally.

"I think this rally is as much a political thing as it is anything else," said Randy Smith, a sheet metal worker born in Las Vegas in 1956. "But with this rally we also are putting to the forefront that there is a problem and it needs to be fixed."

Leone said he has no problem supporting the Teamsters even if there is the underlying feud between the union and the homebuilders because, in the end, the issue is saving water.

"Southern Nevada, and indeed the earth, with its limited resources cannot allow for uncontrolled growth and expect to meet the needs of everyone," Leone said. "We have to find a better way to address the water issue."

The Teamsters and allied unions have sharply criticized the new water conservation policies imposed in reaction to four years of drought, as well as policies that have been in place for years such as fines for water waste.

Vince Alberta, a water district spokesman, avoided wading into the issue of union representation in the home building industry, but said resentment of the policies is not unexpected.

"Obviously there is some frustration regarding the more stringent conservation measures that have been adopted because of the drought, Alberta said. "We are no different from other communities in the region that have adopted similar measures because of the drought."

But conservation always was envisioned as a central part of the water authority's long-range resource plan, he said.

"Overall, we just need to become a more water-smart community," Alberta said. "If we do that, we will continue to prosper."