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Coalition to Picket JMI to Protest Union-Only Construction Agreement on New San Diego Marriott

Posted: Thursday, July 17, 2008

For Immediate Release

July 17, 2008

Contact:

Eric Christen 719-210-5218

Group Fighting JMI’s Decision to Discriminate Against Non-Union Workers on $500 Million Project

July 17, 2008 – SAN DIEGO, CA

The informational picket will be held at JMI’s offices on Thursday, July 17 at 9:00 a.m., located at 12265 El Camino Real in San Diego. CFEC will be using this event to inform citizens what JMI has done in agreeing to a PLA for this project and how their discriminatory practices have no place in San Diego.

“It is incomprehensible that in this day and age a leading developer in San Diego would think it O.K. to openly discriminate against the almost 90% of the local construction workforce who choose to be union-free,” said CFEC’s Eric Christen. “While it has become common practice for labor leaders to attempt to subvert the environmental laws of this state using greenmail to achieve their ends, it is even more galling that JMI would reward this extortion by signing a PLA. This will not be allowed to happen in San Diego any longer and those who do agree to PLAs will find themselves help accountable in a very public way.”

The project calls for this to be the West Coast’s largest hotel at 1,929 rooms. The hotel, first proposed last summer, was set to be the biggest in San Diego County with 1,650 rooms. Now, the downtown property is positioned to be Marriott’s flagship convention destination on the Pacific.
– The Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction (CFEC) will be holding an informational picket outside of the offices of JMI Realty to protest their discriminatory labor practices. In a threat all too reminiscent of the ongoing union-led shakedown of the proposed $1 billion Gaylord Hotel and Convention Center, labor leaders planned to employ the insidious extortion tactic known as “greenmail” in order to secure monopolistic concessions regarding JMI’s new Marriott to be built next to Petco Park in the Ballpark Village. JMI caved to labor bosses demands and agreed to a union-only Project Labor Agreement (PLA) which makes it all but impossible for non-union workers and companies to work on the project.

Coalition to Picket JMI to Protest Union-Only Construction Agreement on New San Diego Marriott

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