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Construction Workers Demand Justice from Pulte Homes |
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Some 30 construction workers from Arizona and Nevada and their supporters rallied last week outside the Pulte Homes annual shareholders’ meeting in Birmingham, Mich., to demand that the company set standards for its contractors.
The workers say while the company prospers, the people who help build the homes
- Receive little or no overtime pay;
- Sometimes work without being paid;
- Are denied affordable health care;
- Receive no sick days or vacation days.
Rogelio Perez, a drywall worker from Phoenix, says:
This is heavy work and they make us work long shifts every day. Normally, we work 50 hours a week, but one has to do it because the salary is so low. Even working this many hours, you just barely get what is necessary to support the family.
We believe it is time Pulte Homes is held accountable for the actions of these contractors.
Between 3,000 and 5,000 workers in Arizona and Nevada are employed by Pulte, one of the nation’s largest home builders or by its subcontractors. Pulte, which has been dubbed the “Wal-Mart” of home developers, has operations in 50 markets and made more than $14 billion in sales in 2005.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the median sales price for homes in the United States has increased 62 percent since 2000. The stock price for some of the largest U.S. home developers, including Pulte, jumped more than 200 percent. Yet, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the average hourly wages for residential construction workers increased a mere 21 percent—and that’s even before inflation is taken into account.
The workers also have launched a new website, www.buildingjustice.org, which contains information on the workers’ struggle for justice from Pulte and its contractors. The Building Justice campaign is a partnership organizing campaign comprised of the Painters and Allied Trades and the Sheet Metal Workers with the support of the AFL-CIO.
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For too long, many employers in the southwest have taken unfair advantage of workers who lack union representation. Any one who works as hard as these workers do (espcecially in hot Arizona and Nevada sun) surely deserves fair wages and health care benefits.