A picket line posted Wednesday and again today at Bowling Green State University has slowed construction
of The Oaks, a dining complex at Ridge Street and Thurstin Avenue.
Members of Cement Masons & Plasterers Local 886 are claiming that employees of a non-union
plastering firm hired for exterior plastering work on the building are being paid substandard wages and
benefits.
Local 886 draws its membership from Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.
BGSU spokesperson Dave Kielmeyer said this morning that the employees of Bredshell Plastering Inc., said
are being paid the prevailing wage. "Everyone on that job is being paid the prevailing wage. That’s
true of all of the construction work on campus."
The university contracted with Chartwells in 2009 to operate its dining services and Chartwells in turn
has contracted with Shrader & Martinez, an Arizona firm, for construction of The Oaks.
Bredshell, based in Wilmington, is a subcontractor of Shrader & Martinez.
The dining hall is scheduled to open in late August when the 2011-2012 academic year begins.
A check of the live construction webcam of the inside of The Oaks this morning showed no workers in the
main area of the building. Tuesday morning when a media tour went through the building the area was
bustling with construction activity.