BY SCOTT STIFFLER | The 400 block of West 21st Street has seen a series of recent protests organized by union labor. Whistles piercing the morning air, group chants conveying demands, and fair wage talking points peppered with profanity appear to have achieved the desired effect of being seen and heard. Now they’re hoping they’ll be listened to. 

In an April 6 text message sent to Chelsea Community News’ founder/editor Scott Stiffler, Taryn Schofield, an Account Supervisor at Marino PR, confirmed on behalf of the Building & Construction Trades Council of Greater New York (BCTC), that “the unions would be meeting with Consigli on Tuesday [April 7] regarding this issue.” It is not known whether reps for specific unions will attend–but, noted Schofield, “The Building Trades represents local affiliates” and, as such, is expected to voice the concerns of union labor not physically present at the meeting.

At issue are the employment practices of Consigli, the general contractor overseeing daily operations for an ambitious construction project set to turn the former General Theological Seminary grounds into Vanderbilt University‘s first satellite campus outside of its home base in Nashville, TN. An inaugural class of approximately 95 third- and fourth-year undergraduate students are expected to take up residence at Vanderbilt’s West Chelsea campus in mid-August. That’s put a time-sensitive sheen on current construction efforts–and although nobody’s been accused of sacrificing safety in the interest of meeting deadlines, the timeline Consigli’s been tasked to work within has been invoked as one of the reasons Vanderbilt has empowered them to oversee the project’s swift and decisive bidding process.

(It’s this reporter’s understanding that non-union labor represents a disproportionate percentage of the electricians, plumbers, carpenters, and other special-skill workers currently employed on the Chelsea campus.)

Chelsea Community News has been reaching out to all involved in recent public protests outside of Vanderilt as well as those who’ll be in the room where today’s meeting happens. We’ll have a detailed report on relevant talks and actions as soon as the situation allows.

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