Construction workers die from racism, neglect

By Brenda Ryan - Workers World
Published Feb 9, 2008

According to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1,226 construction workers died in the U.S. from occupational injuries in 2006. This averages out to three a day. It is one of the most dangerous professions, with 15.2 deaths per 100,000 workers. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health says only mining and agricultural work have higher death rates.

Construction deaths are labeled as accidents but in reality they are crimes of capitalism, caused by companies that do not provide workers with training and safety gear that can prevent these deaths.

This past Jan. 14, Yuriy Vanchytsky made front page headlines in New York City newspapers when he fell 42 floors off the Trump Soho Hotel. He had been tamping wet concrete into wooden molds when the molds collapsed. Witnesses reportedly said that a crane had crashed into the side of the upper floors before the accident.

On Jan. 22, a construction worker with Edison Heating and Cooling fell 30 feet at a site in Jersey City. The radio station 1010 WINS briefly mentioned the tragedy, noting that safety authorities plan to cite the construction company for not having safety equipment on site.

It?s not likely to do any good. The contractor and subcontractor of the Trump SoHo project?Bovis Lend Lease and DiFama Concrete Company?had received 11 previous building code violations.

The following week two more construction workers in Brooklyn died. On Jan. 28, Volodymr Bolehivskyy was working at a building when a one-story concrete slab snapped its cable and crushed him. Bovis Lend Lease was the site manager there as well.

And on Jan. 30, Jos? Palacios, a construction worker in Brooklyn, fell 12 stories when the scaffolding he was standing on collapsed in strong winds. According to the New York Times, the City Department of Buildings had issued a warning to builders and contractors early that day instructing them to secure construction materials and tools or cancel work until the winds subsided. The article also noted that safety netting was not in use at that site since the project was nearly done.

Another factor behind these deaths is racism. Many of those who die are immigrants, who face abuse and indifference from their bosses. The Associated Press reported in an Oct. 21 article that federal data from 1997 to 2006 showed there was a more than 260 percent increase in construction deaths in New York City involving Latin@s, from six in 1997 to 22 in 2006.

An examination of 2006 OSHA reports on New York construction fatalities illustrates ?workers were more likely to die on construction jobs if they were foreign-born, Hispanic, spoke a language other than English, and worked for a nonunion crew,? the AP article states. ?They were also more likely to die from injuries sustained from falls.?

Employers ?impose modern slavery on workers,? on those they describe as illegals, said El Chasqui, co-founder of Pachamama Ecuadorian Alliance. ?They make us work long hours for low wages, no benefits and sometimes no pay.?

El Chasqui said immigrants come to the United States because of U.S. imposed poverty in their countries and end up taking jobs they weren?t trained for. The employers do not provide the training, so workers perform jobs ?based on common sense.?

They face constant danger on the job, working without safety gear and being exposed to chemicals and contaminants. ?Every day, every hour we have this kind of situation,? said El Chasqui, who is an electrician. ?People have their hands cut off, their legs broken. They can?t pay their medical bills. Sometimes they have to get up and go to work because their families depend on them.?

Articles copyright 1995-2007 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.

Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011