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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 2018)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | April 6, 2018 | PAGE 11 JOBS After lobbying for a state law to give Facebook server farms more favorable tax treatment, some lo- cal building trades union leaders are irked to find that work on an expansion of the Facebook data center in Prineville is going to nonunion subcontractors that pay below area-standard wages, use workers from out of state, and fail to take part in state-registered ap- prenticeship training programs. Portland-based Fortis Con- struction, the general contractor on the job, is itself signatory with the Laborers and Carpen- ters, and it has hired union-sig- natory subcontractors on the job. But it also hired non-union Taylor Northwest of Bend, Ore- gon, to move earth and prepare the building foundation; nonunion Sure Steel of Utah to do structural steel erection; and nonunion Cobra BEC of Spokane to do roofing and metal wall panels. “What it boils down to is that they’re bringing folks in from out of state to do the work,” said Op- erating Engineers Local 701 Business Manager Jim Anderson. Facebook has been building Photo by Terry Casey, courtesy of IUOE Local 701 Shame on Fortis? Or should it be ‘Shame on Facebook?’ “Shame on Fortis” says a banner Operating Engineers Local 701 put up March 27 outside the Facebook construction site in Prineville, Oregon. data centers in Central Oregon since 2010, drawn by the cheap land, cheap electricity, cool cli- mate … and the tax breaks. Ore- gon taxpayers are indirectly sub- sidizing the project, in that Facebook is receiving a state “Enterprise Zone” property tax abatement. From 2012 to 2017, the company saved $71.5 million in Oregon taxes through the pro- gram, which gives companies a 15-year property tax holiday on the value of new equipment and buildings they install. For years, the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council has tried but failed to get the Legisla- ture to require that construction jobs on projects getting the Enter- prise Zone abatement be paid the area prevailing wage. Facebook has completed three buildings so far at its mammoth data center campus. Last Decem- ber, it announced plans to add two more buildings totaling 900,000 square feet. The work is forecast to keep construction crews busy for four years. On its own Facebook page for the Prineville Data Center, Face- book says it’s committed to use local workers: “From the start, we have been committed to hir- ing locally and using local con- tractors and suppliers where pos- sible to construct, operate, supply and maintain the data center here in Oregon.” But when Iron Workers Local 29 President Shane Nels visited the work site in March, he found Sure Steel workers driving per- sonal vehicles with license plates from Florida, Utah, and Califor- nia. Asking around, he found ironworker wages were $15 to $18 an hour — less than half the union ironworker wage of $36.23 an hour (not to mention $26.89 an hour of union benefits.) [Non- union heavy machinery opera- tors, meanwhile, are making about $10 an hour less in wages, Anderson says.] Nels found that multiple union-signatory contractors that were capable of doing the work with local workers weren’t in- vited to bid on the job. “It doesn’t take CSI to figure out when we’re being excluded,” Nels said. Roofers Local 49 Business Manager Russ Garnett says Port- land-based union-signatory con- tractor McDonald & Wetle bid on the job, but lost out to the nonunion firm. Last time around, McDonald & Wetle did the work at the Facebook data center. All this stings a bit, consider- ing that building trades union rep- resentatives advocated at the Ore- gon Legislature in favor of a tax change to benefit data center owners. The issue was whether companies would be taxed, like communication companies, based in part on the value of their brand and other “intangibles.” Legislators voted to change the law so that they would not be. Responding to emailed ques- tions, a Facebook spokesperson declined to address wage or ap- prentice issues, but said 90 per- cent of the contracts awarded so far on the Prineville expansion have gone to Oregon contrac- tors, and over 80 percent have gone to union subcontractors. — Don McIntosh Special gift for you just because you are a Union member! Bring this coupon to the location nearest you for a FREE Teeth Whitening Package Not corporate dentistry. All offices are independently owned, with Union Represented Staff • Beaverton - 503.914.4003 Hillsboro - 503.719.6452 • Camas/E. Vancouver NEW LOCATION! - 360.226.2332 Longview - 360.639.3388 You do not need to be our patient & there’s absolutely no obligation Salem - 503.914.4007 *One kit per family; you must present the original coupon, no NWLP copies will be accepted. • Chehalis - 360.639.3377 Salmon Creek 360.639.3399 • Clackamas - 503.821.0089 • Eugene/Springfield - 541.622.0602 • Gresham - 503.914.4005 Southern Oregon-541.227.6966 COMING SOON! Tualatin - 503.885.8899 NEW LOCATION! EXPIRES: Dec. 31, 2018-NWLP
