Union group accuses home builder of poor work conditions

Pulte Homes dismisses claims as “publicity stunt”

Mona Shield Payne / Special to the Sun

Dressed as a lemon while representing Pulte and Del Webb homeowners and union members, Ben Horowitz, left, stands with Norma Uribe outside the council chambers of the Nevada State Contractors Board waiting to present the National Lemon Award to the board during the Thursday morning meeting.

By Jeff Pope (contact)

Thursday, March 26, 2009 | 5:43 p.m.

Pulte Homes protestors

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A long-running feud between unions and one of the nation’s largest home builders spilled into the meeting of the Nevada State Contractors Board in Henderson this morning.

About 60 construction tradesmen packed the board’s chambers to draw attention to what they say are poor working conditions and quality problems at the job sites of Pulte Homes and its Del Webb subsidiary.

Workers reported unsafe practices, harassment and discrimination, said Matt O’Malley, lead researcher of a survey by the Building Justice campaign. Those conditions led to poor construction quality and homeowners’ complaints of imperfections, he said.

The campaign is a partnership of the AFL-CIO, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association.

The organizations want union contractors on Pulte’s work sites in Nevada and Arizona, O’Malley said.

The union campaign also released findings of a survey it conducted last year of 872 Pulte and Del Webb homeowners in Nevada, Arizona and California. About half live in Southern Nevada. The results were published today in a report called, “Poorly Built by Pulte, No Different at Del Webb.”

It reports that 63 percent of homeowners reported construction defects and 44 percent were dissatisfied with the company’s response.

Jacque Petroulakis, a spokeswoman for Pulte, said the unions have been passing around similar reports in Arizona and California for more than a year, trying to force the company to use union contractors.

The company built 15,000 homes in Las Vegas in the past five years and uses union and nonunion contractors, Petroulakis said.

“Building Justice has cherry picked a very small and vocal faction of this group and has tried to claim that their survey represents all Pulte and Del Webb homeowners,” she said. “This is all part of a publicity stunt. We don’t believe the results are anywhere near being close to accurate.”

O’Malley spoke during an opening forum portion of the meeting so the board members did not have to respond and none of them did. The workers chose the venue because Nathaniel Hodgson, Pulte’s vice president of construction, is a board member.

Petroulakis said the company stands by its favorable customer satisfactions surveys conducted by J.D. Power and Associates, which in 2008 ranked Pulte among the top three home builders based on surveys of new-home buyers in 11 of 33 markets. In Las Vegas, Del Webb placed third and Pulte ranked fourth.

“We’ve earned an industry-leading reputation for delivering quality homes,” Petroulakis said.

O’Malley said his organization has tried unsuccessfully for years to open discussions with Pulte about working conditions. “The ultimate goal is we want to have a cooperative relationship with Pulte,” he said.

Discussion: 3 comments so far…

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By bdover

March 26, 2009

6:56 p.m.

Suggest removal

Just what we need-Union loafers building homes. There wouldn't be many safety violations, since they don't move fast enough to hurt themselves. Can you imagine what a home would cost with Union help? "I can't unload those doors, they're wrapped in plastic, so the carpenters have to do the job". God help us all....
By ecm

March 27, 2009

7:16 a.m.

Suggest removal

Isn't John Smirk the same guy who protested the City Center union job saying the site was unsafe? So which is it Mr. Smirk?
Pulte Homes is an excellent homebuilder, who has earned their JD Power awards with good old-fashioned hard work. I'd bet the so-called workers present at the Contractor's board are nothing more than union salts. Same old union garbage trying to bolster the union coffers.
By LostnLV

April 3, 2009

7:14 a.m.

Suggest removal

Pulte is the largest builder in Las Vegas. I own a Pulte Home and I have never had a single issue. We ought to run e-verify on the folks in the picture. They certainly don't look like they have worked in homes with thier pretty clean white painters close on. Give me a break. JD Powers four years in a row. You don't get that from being a poor builders. Also they must do a great job as to have a man sitting on the board whom knows construction. Another Union Ploy for Lack of WORK!