Unionized Electricians Gather to Complain about Non-Union Labor Used at Hospital Site

More than 50 unionized electricians gathered outside Stamford Hospital in Connecticut last month to complain about unlicensed laborers performing some of the work on the $450 million project for the new hospital complex.

A shop steward came to the site and tried to find someone with a license and couldn’t find anyone, according to Thomas Hegarty, an apprentice with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3.

The Stamford Advocate reported that Stamford Hospital officials declined to comment, instead referring questions to the hospital project’s general contractor, Skanska. A spokesman for the contractor said the piping work performed by the non-union laborers did not require a specialized license since it did not involve actual electrical wiring, just the installation of underground conduits for communication.

But one union electrician told the Stamford Advocate that the new workers on the site installed the couplings, or pipe joints, backward. Skanska officials said that was not possible.

As required in Connecticut, 80% of the project has involved union jobs.

The news report went on to say the non-union electricians, who declined to give their names for fear of losing their jobs, said they were hired to fix another group of non-union laborers’ work on the hospital project.