| Marvin W. Mielke, Inc., Issue No. 1 |
March 2003
|
The Contractors Critic
Marvin W. Mielke, INC., AN ABC MEMBER Reporting on Safety, Productivity, and Honesty in the Construction Industry.
|
Litigation & Unsafe Work
|
ON THE JOB SAFETY
| The construction industry
continues to be one of the most dangerous places to work and at ground level,
some contractors, including Marvin W. Mielke, rack up multiple OSHA citations
and fines. For instance, Ohio OSHA inspected a Marvin W. Mielke job site in
Olmsted Falls and found several serious violations by Mielke. A pipe threader
was being operated without a contact device, such as a guarded foot switch, to
control the power input to the machine. OSHA also noted that the Mielke
employees were exposed to the dangers of "fractures" and "lacerations of [their]
hands or arms."
A propane cylinder was being stored unsafely, in the middle of the
construction area. Even though the Marvin W. Mielke employees were at risk of
burns and smoke inhalation if the cylinder had ignited, Mielke confessed to OSHA
that he had "no knowledge" of the legal requirements for safe storage of a
propane cylinder. OSHA then charged Marvin W. Mielke with two serious,
life-threatening violations and proposed fines that totaled $525. OSHA also
inspected Mielke’s accident logs and discovered that two Mielke employees had
previously suffered on-the-job injuries, and that one of them had missed four
days of work as a result. (Inspection #103011680)
|
IS MARVIN W. MIELKE MIXED UP WITH TRADESMEN INTERNATIONAL?
| During 1998 and 1999, a
majority of the Marvin W. Mielke workers were members of the Plumbers and
Pipefitters Union. However, according to information in a National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) Advice Memorandum, Marvin W. Mielke may have reacted by
quietly arranging to have Tradesmen International perform some of Marvin W.
Mielke’s work. If true, Marvin W. Mielke customers may have been shortchanged by
the substitution of trained Marvin W. Mielke workers, with semi-skilled
Tradesmen "temps." (Case #8-CA-31668 & Case #8-CA-31831)
Tradesmen International is a construction labor "temporary" outfit that has
been implicated in many court suits, OSHA violations and unfair labor practice
charges across the United States.
For instance, OSHA cited Tradesmen for two serious violations, and proposed
$3,000 in fines, after a Tradesmen employee was electrocuted at a Valley View,
Ohio job site. (Inspection #301916995)
Tradesmen has at least one appeal of an adverse NLRB decision pending in the
Federal Appeal Courts and has been sued multiple times in federal court over job
discrimination, labor relations, pension issues and labor standards issues,
including at least one suit by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Potential customers of Marvin W. Mielke should be careful to insure that they
are paying for Marvin W. Mielke employees and not receiving work from Tradesmen
"temps" instead. | | | | | | |
