NORWALK, Conn. — Around 50 union workers and local officials gathered Saturday morning at Oak Grove to protest what they described as “egregious labor violations” by subcontractors hired for a public housing project overseen by the Norwalk Housing Authority.
The protest, organized by the Connecticut Building & Construction Trades Council and led by IUPAT (International Union of Painters and Allied Trades) District Council 11, targeted subcontractors working under AP Construction, the general contractor for the taxpayer-funded project, not the Housing Authority itself. Demonstrators cited allegations including falsified payroll records, unpaid workers’ compensation, and over $380,000 in back wages and penalties across multiple firms.
Workers marched through the residential development holding signs reading “One Union, One Family, One Fight” and “The IUPAT Fights for Working People.” A large inflatable “fat cat” figure wearing a suit and cigar stood at the protest site, gripping a worker in one hand and a money bag in the other. Union members posed for a group photo holding placards calling on AP Construction to “Hire Legitimate Subcontractors.”
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“This is a community project with the Norwalk Housing Authority,” said Ed Hawthorne, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO. “It’s not a city project, and the Housing Authority needs to be held accountable for what they’re doing and who they hire.”
The Connecticut Department of Labor has issued two Stop Work Orders related to violations on the site, with one contractor reportedly resuming work in defiance of the order. “They put up the signs. We get the stop work orders. What do they do? They tear them down,” Hawthorne said.
Joe Toner, executive director of the Connecticut State Building Trades, emphasized that the protest was about more than one job site. “We have to continue to do this more and more,” he said. “What’s happening is these developers are using the housing shortage to leverage politicians to let them do whatever they want.”
Toner also noted legislative efforts underway to pass a bill mandating union labor and workforce development in publicly funded housing. “When we come into these communities, we’ve got to make sure we’re developing careers and providing opportunities for folks that have been left behind for so many years,” he said.
Several city and state officials stood in solidarity with the trades. “We’re not going to let people who should be doing another job come in and get paid cash for something that is a union job,” said State Sen. Bob Duff. “We want good wages, good health care, good retirement. That’s what we want.”
Mayor Harry Rilling, who is not seeking reelection, reaffirmed his support for project labor agreements, citing past success with union-built schools in Norwalk. “It came in under budget, on time,” Rilling said of Cranbury School.
Barbara Smyth, chair of the Common Council’s Land Use and Building Management Committee and a candidate for mayor, also backed the effort. “We want to continue building affordable housing, but we want to do it right,” Smith said. “We want to do it with a living wage for our workers.”
Housing Authority representative Adam Bovilsky acknowledged the violations and expressed alignment with the workers. “Our contracts all say all subs are required to pay the prevailing wage,” he said. “We’re not your enemy. We want to build housing so everyone who works in this community can live in this community.”
Sen. Jorge Cabrera closed out the rally by calling for unity. “It doesn’t matter what we look like, it doesn’t matter where we’re from. We all want the same things,” he said. “We stand up for each other. We fight for each other. And that’s what we’re doing here today.”
The rally included workers from multiple trades, including painters, roofers, and electricians. Several city and state officials stood in solidarity with the trades, including Duff, Cabrera, Rilling, Smyth, and Common Councilman Jalin T. Sead. Also present was Josh Goldstein, Common Councilman and a Norwalk’s Fair Rent Commission member, who joined union leaders in the march and rally.
Protestors ended the event with a group photo in front of the newly constructed homes, fists raised and signs held high.
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