Union row delays apartment project

A dispute between unions over who should carry hundreds of washing machines and microwave ovens into a large new apartment complex in Quincy resulted in a work stoppage and damage to some of the new appliances this week.

As a result, a mid-May move-in date for new residents will be pushed back to June, the developer said yesterday.

The first 100 residential units of HighPoint, a 1,040-apartment complex being built by Congress Group Ventures on an old quarry site, are nearly ready for occupancy. But when a moving company that employs members of the Teamsters Union showed up with the first of 500 refrigerators, stoves, and other appliances, the building trades unions -- laborers, carpenters, electricians -- claimed the job of moving the appliances was theirs.

A negotiating session barely got started before it broke down Monday; many construction workers didn't show up for work Wednesday, and no one was on the job on Thursday. The unions were back at work yesterday, though the dispute has not been resolved. The Teamsters plan to be on the job Monday.

Teamsters working for Metropolitan Moving & Storage Corp. of Cambridge have the contract to deliver and carry in the units, said John J. Perry, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 82. But other unions doing work on the complex objected.

"It got so ridiculous," Perry said. "Because it was made out of tin, somebody else wanted it. Because something got hung on a wall, the carpenters wanted it. It got out of hand."

"The only ones who didn't claim it were the masons," said Dean F. Stratouly, president of Congress Group Ventures.

Stratouly said some appliances had been overturned, and others had been scratched and would have to be replaced. One truck had a tire punctured, Perry said. No damage estimate was yet available.

About 10 percent of the 500 appliances have been installed. A couple hundred are already on site, waiting to be carted in and hooked up, Perry said.

Kevin L. Cotter, business manager for the Plumbers and Gasfitters, Local 12, said Teamsters' responsibilities typically end when they deliver appliances to the site. He denied any responsibility on the part of the trades for any damage.

"If there are any scratches, it happened when the Teamsters were moving them," Kotter said. "It can't be done by my folks."

Stratouly this week filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board against the tactics allegedly used by the trade unions. HighPoint is being built entirely by union labor. Stratouly said he was stunned when by this week's vandalism and work slowdowns because of the union dispute.

Perry said these disagreements happen when it is not clear who has the responsibility for moving appliances from the trucks into the building. But according to this contract, "We were awarded it," he said.

Metropolitan Moving & Storage has used Teamsters labor for years. "I didn't bring in 'Tom and Dean Appliance Co.,' some nonunion group," said Stratouly. "These are Teamsters, real union guys."

Perry wanted to file for a jurisdictional ruling with the two national unions, one for building trades and the other for Teamsters, but said the other side refused, perhaps fearing that the issue would be decided against them, setting a precedent against them.

Bob Rizzi, president of the South Shore Building Trades Association, an umbrella group, blamed Stratouly for the dispute, saying, "He calls all the shots." Rizzi said there was no formal project labor agreement on the HighPoint construction, though he acknowledged all work "to date" has been done by union workers. "The Teamsters are not construction workers, and that's the bottom line," Rizzi said.

Roy M. Schoenfeld, deputy attorney for Region 1 of the National Labor Relations Board, said that if a preliminary investigation finds the charges in the complaint are true, a hearing will be set up and an injunction sought against further violations. A five-member board in Washington, D.C., would decide whose job it is to bring in the appliances.

The complaint was filed against about a dozen unions or union groups. "It's possible that by the time the board issues a hearing the work will be done," Schoenfeld said. But the ruling would cover disputes on later phases of work on HighPoint.

The apartment complex is being built at 193 Quarry St., west of downtown Quincy. It will eventually include 10 luxury apartment buildings, with eight floors each. The first five buildings, Phase I including 520 units, are in construction now. Fifty of the units will be designated for residents 55 or older. The entire project, on 75 acres of land, is scheduled to be completed in 2006.

Thomas C. Palmer Jr. can be reached at tpalmer@globe.com.