Workers Suspected of Vandalism on Union-Only Construction Site

Could you imagine working on a signature construction project and then vandalizing it?That's apparently what happened on the construction site of the new Buffalo Bills stadium -- a union-only jobsite.

Work ceased for a week while investigators interviewed construction workers about "pornographic and homophobic graffiti" discovered in both finished and unfinished ares of the stadium project site, according to reporting at syracuse.com.

Gilbane | Turner, the construction management company, offered a $100,000 reward to find the culprits behind $150,000 in damages. Such a steep reward compared to the cost of the damages says something about how serious or how embarrasing this is. After all, the Bills commited to "[f]ostering workforce inclusion and diversity in the project."

The generous reward apparently loosened some lips.

"Sources told WBEN that the two suspects are among seven construction workers targeted in the investigation," reported syracuse.com.

Are those construction workers members of organized labor? It looks that way. The jobsite is dictated by a project labor agreement which restricts access to only union workers.

The actions of a handful should not besmirch everyone else on the job. But this situation raises questiosn about who would risk a criminal conviction and their livelihood to commit such a pointless crime? Who thinks they are so entitled or protected? Who needs to be rewarded wtih $100,000 in order to report criminal activity on a jobsite?

Merit shop employees choose to work for their employers, they take pride in their work, and they value customer satisfaction. Merit shop employees are not loyal or beholden to a union or a hiring hall that decides whether they work today or not.

They work full-time for their merit shops and are invested in its success. They succeed in their career through their hardwork and skill -- not because a union official in the hiring hall decides when and where they work.

In the name of inclusion and diversity, the Buffalo Bills locked out qualified, local merit shop contractors who employ the vast majority of construction workers in New York state (and every state actually).

The Bills have learned that a PLA is no guarantee of inclusion, diversity or much of anything else -- except union workers. Apparently, the PLA was missing a "no vandalism" clause.