Unions close Boylston Street, say protests could continue through Marathon Day

Union workers in Boston shut down a major city thoroughfare to force the owners of a downtown building to cease “exploitative” work practices there, and they say they’ll continue to protest despite the construction site’s proximity to the route of the upcoming Boston Marathon.

Joined by state and city officials, local unions closed off Boylston Street for more than an hour in the middle of the lunch-time rush on Monday, to protest construction efforts at 581 Boylston Street, or the Wesleyan Building.

The new owners of that building, according to multiple union members interviewed by the Herald, are allowing their general contractor to employ non-union workers at sub-par wages to perform construction work very near to the public and adjacent to where the 128th Boston Marathon will take place later this month.

Greater Boston Building Trades Unions Business Agent Chaton Green said protesting workers hope the owners of Wesleyan Building stop exploiting the workers there, but if they don’t, they want the organizers of the marathon to be aware of potential impacts of further protests.

“The hope is that the general contractor will cease exploitative practices on Boylston Street so that there is no overlap between the increasing protests at that building and the preparations for the race which will occur literally next to where workers are being taken advantage of every day by a bad actor. However, at the moment, the conditions in that jobsite are very concerning to many people and so there will be a lot of visibility and rallying in that area to ensure workers are as safe on the job as possible,” Green said in a statement.

Protestors will not necessarily attempt to cross the marathon route or interrupt the race, a spokesperson for the group said, but their presence will be felt for as long as Chevron Partners, the owner of the building, employees non-union workers.

“For working conditions like these to be occurring anywhere in Boston is deeply troubling. For them to happening at the same time and same place as the Boston Marathon, an event that reflects so much pride and is an example of what it means to be in Boston — support, solidarity, community, caring for each other — it flies in the face of what this race means and what fairness and decency mean to Boston,” Green said.

Frank Murray, President of the Ironworkers Local 7, said that construction workers currently working at the Wesleyan Building are not to blame, but they are being paid as little as $10 per hour to do dangerous work and that’s bad for workers everywhere.

“Unions offer a pathway to the middle class, and unions built the middle class. These people don’t have that chance,” he said. “They’re not bad people, they’re just being mistreated on the job site.”

Marcel Safar, a managing partner with Chevron Partners, said that he’s not aware of any exploitative practices going on there and he doubts any welder would work for $10 an hour.

“Kindly understand that Chevron Partners was not contacted by any of the protest organizers and so we did not know the nature of any objections prior to today,” Safar said. “Regarding labor practices, please note that Chevron Partners does not employ any construction workers at the site. The contractor is J.L. Dunn.”

J.L Dunn did not return a request for comment by press time.

According to the Boston Athletic Association, spectators — protesting or otherwise — are not allowed on the race course.

“Maintaining a clear course is important to support our 30,000 participants in safely navigating the course and running their best race, allowing easy access for emergency personnel, and assuring that all spectators have as clear a view of the course as possible,” a BAA spokesperson told the Herald.

Several local politicians joined the protests on Monday, including Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn and State Sen. Lydia Edwards.

“F—k around and find out,” Edwards said of the contractors.