2008 Woodie Awards
Assumption Escapes Legal Conflict
Kerry King
Issue date: 2/27/03 Section: Lead Stories
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This past summer, Assumption College's Student Government Association wrote a proposal for fair contracting for employment by the college. Passed by SGA as the "Fair Labor Practice" College Code of Conduct, the code provides detailed standards for employment. Unfortunately, this is not enough to safeguard against all possibilities of unfair working conditions, particularly for those employed to construct our newest buildings.
After SGA noticed colleges and universities are "threatened by the growing sway of corporate values over university life," the Code of Conduct was written in order to protect "university employees [who] are often denied elementary democratic rights of free speech, economic security, and equal opportunity."
Most recently, unfortunate news concerning a past employee of the college has surfaced. Craig McEnvoy, previously employed as a subcontractor for five weeks here, worked on exterior framing with J&K Drywall. This contractor company was hired to build our newest buildings in collaboration with Cutler Associates, Inc.
McEnvoy, however, is currently out of work as he has been injured on his latest job site at Liberty Mutual Research Center in Hopkinton, MA. At the time, J&K was helping supplement employees for Excel Drywall.
Injuries on the job are not a problem for many members of the workforce. For McEnvoy, though, things are not that easy. Listed as an "illegal independent subcontractor" by his employers, McEnvoy is not eligible to receive worker's compensation and does not have health insurance.
According to Jack Donahue, an organizer for the New England Regional Carpenter's Council, "J&K consistently hires subcontractors with misclassification." In its association with Cutler, the company has also been involved with a big dispute at Mt. Holyoke College over a similar issue.
The New England Regional Carpenter's Council represents 27,000 New England carpenters in six states. Donahue is a union carpenter, and has been in the business for 20 years. The Council's "objectives, as a union, are to protect all carpenters, union or nonunion, educate carpenters, promote insurance, retirement plans, and the living wage," he said.
After SGA noticed colleges and universities are "threatened by the growing sway of corporate values over university life," the Code of Conduct was written in order to protect "university employees [who] are often denied elementary democratic rights of free speech, economic security, and equal opportunity."
Most recently, unfortunate news concerning a past employee of the college has surfaced. Craig McEnvoy, previously employed as a subcontractor for five weeks here, worked on exterior framing with J&K Drywall. This contractor company was hired to build our newest buildings in collaboration with Cutler Associates, Inc.
McEnvoy, however, is currently out of work as he has been injured on his latest job site at Liberty Mutual Research Center in Hopkinton, MA. At the time, J&K was helping supplement employees for Excel Drywall.
Injuries on the job are not a problem for many members of the workforce. For McEnvoy, though, things are not that easy. Listed as an "illegal independent subcontractor" by his employers, McEnvoy is not eligible to receive worker's compensation and does not have health insurance.
According to Jack Donahue, an organizer for the New England Regional Carpenter's Council, "J&K consistently hires subcontractors with misclassification." In its association with Cutler, the company has also been involved with a big dispute at Mt. Holyoke College over a similar issue.
The New England Regional Carpenter's Council represents 27,000 New England carpenters in six states. Donahue is a union carpenter, and has been in the business for 20 years. The Council's "objectives, as a union, are to protect all carpenters, union or nonunion, educate carpenters, promote insurance, retirement plans, and the living wage," he said.