April 27, 2006

By J. JACOB EDEL
Contributing Writer

Standing inches away from a busy roadway and surrounded by multiple construction projects, numerous members of seven different unions and two members of the state legislature briefly protested a recent decision by the Seattle Housing Authority.

On Monday, April 24, 60 to 75 people showed their distaste for SHA picking Three Kings Environmental Inc. for asbestos removal and the demolition of the Rainier Vista housing complex in the Rainier Valley.

Steve Marquardt, a researcher for the Laborers’ International Union of North America, says that SHA contracted with Three Kings despite knowledge of numerous environmental and workplace safety violations.

“ Three Kings’ home county [Clark County] concluded that the contractor should be denied work there because their mismanagement and insufficient training resulted in project delays, cost overruns, and employee health and safety risks,” Marquardt says.

According to organizers of the event, its purpose was to inform local residents that the company contracted to remove asbestos near their homes focused more on the bottom line than safety.

Doug Strand, Vice President of the Local 242, is angry SHA chose Three Kings because he thinks government agencies should hire safety-minded companies.

“ We’re not letting SHA off the hook. They knew 3 Kings’ history and selected them anyway,” Strand says. “For just $1,000 more, SHA could have picked a contractor who cares about worker safety.”

State Senator Brian Weinstein (D- 41st District), also spoke at the rally. He stressed the importance of asbestos safety.

“ I’ve seen the horrible things asbestos will do to people,” Weinstein said. “It’s very deceptive. It’s a white dust that you think is harmless but after 20-30 years of exposure for just a short period of time, it can lead to the most harmful and deadly forms of cancers out there.”

“ I’m here because I’m on your side. Three Kings should not be doing any work in this area.”

Three Kings has been cited by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and the state’s Department of Labor and Industries so often, say the Laborers, that they should be considered the worst asbestos abatement contractor in the state. Marquardt collected the paper trail of violations and gave it to SHA as the agency considered bids for the demolition of Rainier Vista. Three Kings was hired anyway. “We did not feel we had heard sufficient concerns not to take the lowest bidder,” as federal rules mandate, says spokesperson Virginia Felton.

Ron King, CEO of Three Kings, calls the union’s charges bogus and most violations come as a result of the union calling in the regulators at random.

“ Our record’s no different than any company the same size. We had a perfect record until the [Laborers] decided they wanted us to go union,” he says. Why them? King says his company is the largest non-union abatement contractor in the state; therefore, it’s a nice target. “This is not about our guys, not about our safety, not about our record; this is about money.”

Two residents that live near the construction say they monitor Three Kings’ work but haven’t seen much to be concerned about yet.

“ It can be a full time job watching these guys. They are supposed to remove all the pipes on the roof but I haven’t seen it,” says Margaret Lawrence. “If we see bulldozers without seeing them on the roofs first, then we’ll be calling it in.”

Monday’s event was part of a week of action, which included rallies at the Port of Seattle, the Renton Wal-Mart, and the Eastside’s largest non-union janitorial company. n