Union Protests Substandard Asbestos Removal Contractor in New Jersey

Union Protests Substandard Asbestos Removal Contractor

A company removing asbestos from one of Johnson & Johnson's locations in Raritan, New Jersey, about 60 miles west of the capital of Newark, is being accused of substandard asbestos removal procedures by New York City-based Laborers Local 78, an asbestos and lead abatement division of the Mason Tenders Council.

Johnson & Johnson, which makes and distributes health care products and pharmaceuticals, has three locations in Raritan, but representatives from this New Brunswick-based pharmaceutical giant have refused to identify which location is receiving the remediation. Nor have they deigned to comment on the union's allegations.

The Mason Tenders Council, serving greater New York and Long Island, serves 15,000 members, including construction workers, asbestos and hazardous materials handlers, Catholic High School teachers, recycling and waste handlers and office and professional personnel.

The company selected to perform the remediation is the Mack Group, which offers industrial and commercial asbestos removal, asbestos abatement, floor covering removal services, mold remediation and concrete surface preparation services throughout the United States and worldwide.

According to Eli Kent, the organizational director for Laborers Local 78, the Mack Group has a record of underpaying its employees, which may allow for untrained laborers removing asbestos without sufficient knowledge or skills to complete the process in a safe manner.

Union members have protested by passing out leaflets in front of Johnson & Johnson's company headquarters. They also have a large, inflatable rat set up there (and in front of company offices in Raritan), a symbol commonly being used to protest non-union labor.

A class-action suit against the company, filed on the grounds that it violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and state law by not paying overtime, is pending on behalf of 50 employees who charge they were forced to work more than 50 hours a week at regular pay. According to the suit, the company got away with this by intentionally failing to maintain time sheets.

According to newspaper reports, the Mack Group has been fined three times since May of 2006 for asbestos remediation that did not meet regulatory standards, according to the Labor Department. The fines, initially set at $25,000, were lowered to $7,500, and the Mack Group has reportedly paid the entire $22,500.

Asbestos, when improperly handled by untrained workers, can lead to illnesses such as cancer of the pharynx, cancer of the esophagus, stomach cancer, colon cancer, cancer of the rectum, asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma, a particularly lethal form of cancer, can lie dormant for decades, but when it finally manifests the patient commonly dies with a year or two.

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