“Local union contractors are the right call for big projects like this one because they use good quality labor, and pay a fair day’s wage for a fair days work,” said Arlandar Washington with the Michigan Laborers. “We’re happy to welcome Borgess to Battle Creek. But if they want to build in this community, they should hire local contractors and support local businesses, who they’re counting on to choose their facility when they need care.”

When Borgess undertook a predominately nonunion $77 million expansion project a decade ago, a poll of local building trades insurance administrators found the union building trades members spent $2.5 million for medical care in 2000 alone at Borgess.

“If our union members or their families get sick and choose Borgess, they have good health insurance that pays for their care,” said Washington. “The irony is that nearly every contractor working on this project doesn’t provide insurance, so their workers wouldn’t even be able to afford care at this facility.”

Community leaders held a press conference March 26 in which they called on Borgess Health to live up to its Catholic guiding principles by hiring contractors that provide health insurance, pay a family-supporting wage, and provide safety training for workers. Skilled building trades unions partner with local contractors across the state to provide proper safety training and apprenticeship programs in order to ensure workers are trained and will stay safe on the job site. Union contractors also provide comprehensive health insurance for their employees.

“Every day, nurses see what happens to many workers who don’t have adequate health coverage, or aren’t prepared with proper job safety training,” said Jeff Breslin with the Michigan Nurses Association. “Although we’re proud of the high standards of care we provide for our patients, we don’t want to see you if your injuries are avoidable. Injuries on the job site cost contractors, workers and stakeholders billions every year in medical expenses and lost productivity. Construction laborers should not be forced to take unnecessary risks by working without proper training and safety precautions.”

Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council Business Rep. Hugh Coward said local union agents have sat down with Borgess representatives to get more local people hired on the project, to no avail. “People from Battle Creek who are working on that project are few and far between,” he said. “And we’ve approached Borgess to look to use responsible contractors who hire qualified, safety-trained people on their job. Plus, this is a health care facility, and I doubt there are many construction personnel on this project who have health insurance, and Borgess doesn’t seem to care. To me, that’s counter-intuitive.”