Dear CRAA Board Member,
The Central Ohio Worker Center is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization committed to advocating and organizing for and with low wage and immigrant workers in our community. We conduct wage theft clinics and assist victims of wage theft with securing the money they are owed and obtaining justice. You can learn more about us here https://centralohioworkercenter.org/
On January 30, 2024, the Columbus Dispatch reported that the Columbus Regional Airport Authority is refusing to sign a community benefits agreement for the new terminal project at the Columbus International Airport. In our experience, community benefit agreements and similar labor agreements are an effective way to combat wage theft and provide low income and immigrant workers with recourse because they contain a legally enforceable grievance and arbitration procedure that is free to workers and administered by union representatives who act on their behalf.
Our organization has also been informed that you and your fellow board members have allowed your general contractor to insist that some contractors and employees be exempt from the protection of any community benefits agreement that might be negotiated with the Columbus Building Trades. In our experience, it is low income workers (who are disproportionately Black and Hispanic) and immigrant workers who suffer the most when rules for fair treatment apply to some but not all of us.
We find all of this very disturbing because the Columbus Dispatch also reported in a January 30, 2024 article that your general contractor and its subcontractors had been accused of wage theft in the past and had to pay workers $8 million in back wages. If this were to occur on the airport terminal project, it would likely happen to the population COWC serves.
Our Board of Directors would like to meet with you before your next board meeting to discuss these important issues. Please contact us at centralohioworkercenter@gmail.com or 614-256-7191 to schedule a meeting at your earliest convenience. We look forward to a productive and open dialogue with you.
Sincerely,
Ali Smith, Board President
Claudia Cortez, Director of Programs