Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Daily News tackles worker exploitation

Queens Crap brought you the story of a building collapse in Harlem last December that killed a worker. The Daily News today includes his story in part 3 of their series, "Building Boom-Doggle." They explain that his employer had been barred by the city from taking on more jobs before this tenement collapsed and go on to explore how day laborers are at the mercy of contractors.

Meanwhile, a clueless Bloomie is still defending self-certification:

"We can't be everyplace and hopefully most people when they self-certify are telling the truth, and it's up to us to find those that are not," Bloomberg said.

13 comments:

georgetheatheist said...

Hey Bloomie, and when you do find those self-certifiers who promised to abide by the guidelines and then wilfully did not tell the truth, THEY SHOULD BE WHIPPED IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE!!!TAR AND FEATHERED!!!!!! AND THEN HUNG BY THEIR ANKLES FROM THE HENRY STERN FLAG-POLES IN THE CITY PLAYGROUNDS!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

"It's also clear that immigrant workers are being taken advantage of and being made to work in unsafe conditions," Thompson said yesterday. "We need to do a better job there also."

Enough already. These immigrant workers and the contractors that hire them are breaking the law. Are they not? Stop feeling sorry for them. They choose to be here and we are not their keepers. They sneak in and out of job sites with stop work orders. They put our lives in peril each and every day because they do jobs that they are not qualified to do. They subject us to their bodily excretions and through their garbage all over the site. Then we have to live the diseases and rat problems. They put our lives at risk. Feel sorry for us the people that are subject to this. Feel sorry for the union workers and their families who pay taxes and have their jobs taken away by these people. The immigrants choose to be taken advantage of and they choose to work in unsafe conditions. Bottom line is Mayor Bloomberg should form a task force to go from job site to job site on a daily basis. Extract the illegal workers and close down the job immediately. It should be followed up with the appropriate violations, fines and immigration measures.

Anonymous said...

Whenever I sign an agreement with a contractor to do work on my home, I add a legal rider which insures that he will not use any illegal alien status workers on my job!

I he refuses to sign this work contract.....he doesn't get my job and I promptly report him to ICE and other appropriate government agencies!

Anonymous said...

Whether they're here legally or illegally, they don't deserve to die.

Anonymous said...

They certainly don't deserve to die. Therefore, they must protect themselves and not work in unsafe conditions for any money.

Anonymous said...

"Last poster".....I agree.....NOBODY DESERVES TO DIE.....but it's been proven .......you go after the "Johns" when you want to put an effective crimp in the prostitution business!

These builders are using day workers like prostitutes in a high risk sex game!

It's great to have a soft....or if it comes to that....a bleeding heart......but anyone who uses a contractor who hires unskilled "illegals" off the street becomes an accomplice to murder if one of these HUMAN BEINGS gets killed on the job!

Builders prey on "illegals" because they know they'll work for less! Document them (and give them rights and protection) and unscrupulous developers (like Tommy Huang) won't use them!

Anonymous said...

Do you know that if a contractor you hire employs "illegals" he's held legally responsible!

But his insurance does not cover him breaking the law in this way!

Your home owner's insurance may not cover you if you become a party to any illegal activity!

Perils protected against.... in your insurance contract (read them)..... are strictly limited to compliance with you following the law!

Your insurance becomes "null & void" and won't cover any thing illegal!

You might lose your home in a lawsuit brought against you as well as your contractor!

Anonymous said...

I am sure if they felt they had a choice, they wouldn't subject themselves to the dangers. The fact of the matter is that in the U.S.A., workers, whether legal or illegal, are supposed to be provided with a safe working environment.

Anonymous said...

Let's stop being so simple minded !

Illegal means against the law !

And breaking the law means that anyone doing it (by choice or not) isn't subject to the protection of the law.... and that is certainly sad.... when it comes to the protection of human life!

If you insist on engaging in ANY ILLEGAL ACTIVITY then you'll be likely to suffer any consequences !

Anonymous said...

"He (Bloomberg) also said self-certification is a compromise.

"We can't be everyplace and hopefully most people when they self-certify are telling the truth, and it's up to us to find those that are not," Bloomberg said"

Apparently, Bloomberg was at the Valedictorian up graduation (with classmate Gioia) from the Advanced School of Moronics. His degree? Government as Grifter. His Minor? Roughriding the Vulnerable (Killing them, if necessary)

Anonymous said...

Are Tommy Huang's jobs self certified ?

Yeah.....let the Fox guard the chicken coop.....that makes a lot of sense !!!!

Are you still in favor of the self-cert program.....you pompous imperial pig of a mayor ? !!!!!!

How about using a self certified surgeon and medical staff....you boob !!!!!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous, the answer is yes.

Once upon a time, there was a developer who had his plumber and engineer draw up a plan and self-certify it. The plan was to install around 8 drywells. They dropped (literally) let's say 4 drywells in the ground and called it a day. They're home free. Something happens though? Let's say hypothetically some of the drywells collapse and/or someone drops a dime on the developer. They get audited! What's the penalty? You get a second chance. You agree to correct it. Makes sense does it not? I'm confused. What about you?

Then you pour a huge retaining wall. You have your engineer self-certify that. The contractor builds the wall. Is the footing sound and is there enough steel for support? Guess not. It starts to show signs of stress. People notice. They blow the whistle. What happens now?

We now know how that goes. You get a second chance, of course, to get it right. You hire another engineer. He self-certifies the job. The contractor pours another wall behind the old wall. This time you put more steel in it. You attach it to the compromised wall with nuts and bolts. What happens now? I'm not an engineer and I could tell you what happens next. The new wall, unbelievably, starts showing signs of stress.

The $1 million question is: Do they get a third chance to get it right? Stay tuned! That part of the story is yet to come. You be the 13th juror. Was there any abuse of the self-certification process in this scenario? I know what my answer is.

Anonymous said...

Yes....Tommy Huang.....a convicted criminal/developer is allowed to self certify!

Mayor Mike still approves of this !

Well at least we know that with his abundant wealth, he didn't have to take money from Huang!