February 12, 2020
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Kate Frese/for PhillyVoice
A crowd gathers outside of the Public Ledger Building in Philadelphia on February 12, 2020.
A dangerous asbestos situation affecting the city’s historic Public Ledger Building was the focus of a press conference held outside the building this morning by the leadership of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, Councilmember Bobby Henon and more than 500 union workers. The speakers each demanded the shutdown of ongoing construction taking place within the building until the asbestos is properly remediated.
Local IBEW 98 workers gather behind a podium outside of the Public Ledger Building in Philadelphia, where they protest the hiring of non-union workers inside of the building working unprotected to remove asbestos.
Buisiness Manager of Philadelphia Building Trades, John J. Dougherty, speaks at a demonstration about the unlicensed, non-union work being done inside the building.
"This isn't a union vs. non-union issue. This is a union vs. non-human issue," said Building Trades Business Manager John J. Dougherty. "They're exposing their own workers and others to this poisonous asbestos and they don't care. They come in here from out-of-town and figure they can do whatever the hell they want. It's all about their greed. We're not going to stand for it. We're going to call them out every single time they try to get away with using unlicensed, unqualified contractors to do this dangerous work. We will continue to work with the city to expose these bad actors in the construction industry's Underground Economy and hold them accountable."
Councilmember Bobby Henon, who chairs the Council Committee on Licenses and Inspections, echoed Dougherty's sentiments.
City Councilperson Bobby Henon speaks outside of the Public Ledger Building in Philadelphia about the unlicensed, non-union workers inside removing asbestos.
In furtherance of that goal, Henon is convening a public hearing with L & I officials on Friday, February 21 at City Hall in which Henon and other Council Committee members will ask hard questions of city officials responsible for oversight and enforcement of City Building Codes. It's another step in the efforts to bring an end to the dangerous Underground Economy in the City of Philadelphia.
