“Shame on Yarusso’s,” the banner read. “Tell Southside Electric to stop exploiting workers.”
The restaurant, badly damaged by a kitchen fire in February, used Southside Electric – and several other non-union contractors – to do much of its rebuilding and remodeling work. Those contractors, Local 110 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers claims, subvert area standards when it comes to building trades workers’ wages and benefits.
“Only two of the crafts they brought in here were union,” said Local 110’s Steve Franklin. “The rest were non-signatory contractors using less than area standards.”
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| Tom Shearen of IBEW Local 110 joined his union brothers behind a banner outside Yarusso-Bros. Italian Restaurant on Friday, during the restaurant’s reopening celebration. Also pictured are, from left to right, Steve Franklin, Craig Haugen and Brian Hermann. Union Advocate photo |
Franklin and other electricians on the scene expressed disappointment that Yarusso-Bros., a restaurant long known for serving good meals at a fair prices, would turn its back on the workers who helped it cultivate that reputation.
“This is a working stiff’s place, with the old Hamm’s Brewery and people here on the East Side,” Franklin said. “I feel like we’ve been slapped in the face.”
Franklin approached the restaurant about using union contractors, but management “pretty much blew us off,” he said.
Michael Moore edits The Union Advocate, the official publication of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation.
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“Shame on Yarusso’s,” the banner read. “Tell Southside Electric to stop exploiting workers.”
The restaurant, badly damaged by a kitchen fire in February, used Southside Electric – and several other non-union contractors – to do much of its rebuilding and remodeling work. Those contractors, Local 110 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers claims, subvert area standards when it comes to building trades workers’ wages and benefits.
“Only two of the crafts they brought in here were union,” said Local 110’s Steve Franklin. “The rest were non-signatory contractors using less than area standards.”
|
| Tom Shearen of IBEW Local 110 joined his union brothers behind a banner outside Yarusso-Bros. Italian Restaurant on Friday, during the restaurant’s reopening celebration. Also pictured are, from left to right, Steve Franklin, Craig Haugen and Brian Hermann.
Union Advocate photo |
Franklin and other electricians on the scene expressed disappointment that Yarusso-Bros., a restaurant long known for serving good meals at a fair prices, would turn its back on the workers who helped it cultivate that reputation.
“This is a working stiff’s place, with the old Hamm’s Brewery and people here on the East Side,” Franklin said. “I feel like we’ve been slapped in the face.”
Franklin approached the restaurant about using union contractors, but management “pretty much blew us off,” he said.
Michael Moore edits The Union Advocate, the official publication of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation.