PAGE 8 | January 17, 2020 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
...Oregon OSHA settles for reduced fine on bridge contractor
From Page 1
every little thing. They were watching me,
bird-dogging me.” On the Fourth of July,
Luey fell off the back of a truck and broke
his collarbone. When he recovered, he says
the company wouldn’t take him back.
▪ A worker who asked to be referred to only
by the initials D.R. said he was overheard
by a foreman telling a co-worker that the
pace of work under the bridge was going
to lead to an accident, and someone
would fall from the scaffolding. The next
day, he was told there was no work for
him on the project, which had struggled
to find enough workers.
▪ Tywan Brown, who had traveled from
Virginia to take the job, complained about
safety conditions to OSHA in January
2017. Abhe & Svoboda managers accused
her of being the one who called OSHA,
and terminated her on Feb. 2, 2017,
according to a lawsuit she filed against the
company. The lawsuit was eventually
settled out of court for an undisclosed
amount.
▪ Omar Rubi, the undercover union worker,
attended a safety meeting the day before
the accident, at which a manager told
workers that if they have safety concerns,
they should come to management, not to
talk to each other or to government
agencies about them. Rubi objected, and
told co-workers at the meeting that they
have a right under federal law to talk to
each other, and to government agencies,
about safety concerns. He was sent home,
and later terminated. In complaints with
the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries
(BOLI) and the National Labor Relations
Board (NLRB), he challenged his
termination as unlawful retaliation. BOLI
closed the case after finding “no
substantial evidence,” and the NLRB
dismissed the charge, agreeing with Abhe
& Svoboda’s account that Rubi was fired
for violating a blanket rule against talking
to co-workers.
Oregon OSHA administrator
Michael Wood reached out to
the Labor Press about the case
settlement, and seemed frus-
trated by the reduction in fines.
“On a case like this, I would-
n’t be walking away from it if I
thought we could prevail,”
Wood said.
Most of the initial fine had re-
sulted from OSHA’s conclusion
that the violations were “will-
ful,” meaning that the company
knew it was breaking the law
and did so anyway. But that can
be hard to prove in front of a
judge, Wood said.
“Litigation is always uncer-
tain,” Wood said. “We were not
confident that we would prevail,
and we believed it was possible
we could do even worse than the
settlement.”
Wood said OSHA’s overall
presentation of the case was
weakened because the accident
UNION DEMOCRACY
Elevator Constructors Local
23 re-elects Randy Carmony
Randy Carmony has
$35.25 an hour in
been re-elected busi-
benefits under a na-
ness manager of the
tionwide labor agree-
International Union
ment with National
of Elevator Construc-
Elevator Industry,
tors Local 23. He has
Inc. They work for
served in that capac-
four global elevator
ity since 2014. Lance
companies—Otis,
Hilger was re-elected
ThyssenKrupp, Kone
president. Both ran
and Schindler—plus
Randy Carmony
unopposed.
seven independents.
In the only con-
All officers were
tested race in the election held sworn in Jan. 9.
Dec. 12, Randy Poindexter de-
feated Dan Garrett by one vote Election Results
for recording secretary.
Business Manager Randy Carmony
Local 23 covers all of Ore- President Lance Hilger
gon, plus six southwest Wash- Vice President Ezra Schulz
ington counties. Its 295 mem- Treasurer Russ Vollendorf
bers build and maintain Recording Secretary Randy Poindexter
elevators, escalators, moving Warden Ezra Schulz
walkways, and dumbwaiters. Correspondent Russ Vollendorf
Elevator construction is a spe- Executive Board Randy Poindexter,
Manny Guzman
cialized trade. Local 23 mem-
TrusteeTo
be appointed
bers earn $56.10 an hour plus
victims didn’t want to testify.
“We just want to drop it and
live our lives,” Montiel told the
Labor Press, reached by phone
Jan. 7. Montiel and his father
have recovered enough to return
to work, he said, and are doing
remodeling jobs in the Seattle
area.
For Abhe & Svoboda, a fine
of $24,500 might just be a cost
of doing business. Under the
company’s $22.3 million con-
tract to repaint the bridge, the
work was supposed to be com-
plete Aug. 31, 2017, but the job
wasn’t finished until June 15,
2018. ODOT assessed a penalty
of $777,600 against the com-
pany for completing the work
288 days late. Nineteen months
later, that matter too remains un-
resolved
As with previous stories,
Abhe & Svoboda did not re-
spond to a request for comment.
Last April, Abhe renewed its
status as a pre-qualified bidder
on ODOT projects.
ODOT spokesperson Don
Hamilton — who was once
upon a time a reporter at The
Oregonian — told the Labor
Press in a Jan. 10 email that
Abhe & Svoboda hasn’t bid on
any ODOT work since its 2014
Ross Island Bridge bid. That’s
not true. Judging by ODOT’s
own documents, Abhe and Svo-
boda has bid on at least five
projects since the February 2017
accident (other companies bid
lower and got the work.)
Nothing in ODOT’s procure-
ment rules requires the agency to
consider a bidder’s safety record.
Oldham, the painters union
rep, said he’s disgusted that the
Oregon Department of Trans-
portation continues to accept
bids from Abhe & Svoboda.