NILES Group protests prison labor on school asbestos project

A spokesman said it's not a union issue, but an issue of using law-abiding citizens instead of prisoners.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- As inmates from Ohio Penal Industries continue to remove asbestos from the former Edison Junior High School, members of the Western Reserve Building and Construction Trades Council planned to rally this morning against the project.
Jim Burgham, secretary-treasurer for the Youngstown-based council, said members will protest the use of Ohio State Penitentiary prisoners, saying they are undermining area standards and taking the jobs of law-abiding citizens.
"It's not even an issue of them not using union workers," Burgham said. "It's about using prisoners to perform work that should be done by local residents."
The Niles board of education approved the $500,000 contract last month to use prison workers to remove asbestos so the Church Street building can eventually be torn down. Board members earlier this year were forced to throw out all bids for demolition after the state raised concerns over asbestos in the structure.
Closed last summer
The school, first built in 1917 at the city's high school, was closed at the end of school last summer once construction was completed on the new Niles Middle School.
In addition to concerns over not using local workers, Burgham said, council members also have security concerns.
"Some of our guys already visited the site and found there was only one unarmed security officer supervising the workers," he said. "I don't think they ever made people who live in that area aware of that."
Ohio Penal Industries will routinely bid on jobs, promoting the use of nonviolent criminal offenders as low-cost labor.
It's not the first time the Western Reserve Building and Construction Trades Council has protested the use of prison labor in the Mahoning Valley.
Last year, council members protested against prison workers removing asbestos from homes that were demolished to make way for the state Route 711 connector.
More recently, though, the council didn't object to Columbiana County commissioners using inmates from their prison to perform courthouse chores and projects.
"In that case, it was inmates from Columbiana County who were right there and could do some of the work," Burgham said. "But in this case, they are actually being bused up from Ohio State Penitentiaries."
Council members plan to be at the former school at 8 a.m. for the protest.
slshaulis@vindy.com