On Wed., April 16, four people protested outside entrance one on behalf of the Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters (NRCC) regarding a labor dispute with Pace’s Master Plan development.

Both the protestors’ banner and flyers were strongly worded against Pace.

The banner read “Shame on Pace College for Hurting our Community,” while the flyers the demonstrators were handing out had the header “Shame on Pace College for Desecration of the American Way of Life” with the drawing of a rat chewing on a United States flag.

The NRCC’s labor dispute, however, is not directly with Pace, but with one of the Master Plan’s development’s subcontractors: ShawnLee Construction, a carpentry company based in Plainville, Mass.

ShawnLee was hired by Kirchhoff-Consigli Construction Management (KCCM), Pace’s current Construction Manager.

According to NRCC Representative Daniel Souza, ShawnLee pays its employees “at least half” of the Area Standard Rate, a rate that allows workers to support their families and pay their taxes.

Souza also explained that, as an out of state business, ShawnLee harms the local community because job opportunities are going elsewhere.

“What if your parents didn’t get a job because there’s someone else from another state who is willing to work for half the pay?” Souza said. “That is basically what is happening here.”

He added that, though Pace doesn’t make its tuition any cheaper, it still subcontracts underpaid workers.

“The [NRCC] believes that Pace…has an obligation to the community to see that area labor standards are met for construction work performed on their campus,” read the flyer handed out by the protestors. “[Pace] should not be allowed to [hide]…behind independent contractors.”

Pace spokesperson Cara Cea denied the accusations made against the school.

“KCCM has not discriminated against union participation in the construction project underway at our Pleasantville campus,” Cea said. “KCCM employs on site for the project a mix of union and non-union subcontractors.”

Cea said Pace anticipates that the Master Plan project will create “more than 600 construction jobs, of which more than half will be union jobs.”

“Pace and KCCM officials have engaged in active dialogue with union leaders, requesting participation of their member trade subcontractors,” Cea said. “KCCM received bids from union and non-union subcontractors and selected the most competitive bids to keep costs and tuition down for students.”

She also emphasized that the university is not raising tuition to fund the Master Plan.

KCCM and NRCC are currently in negotiations to review the labor situation in the construction at Pace’s campus, since ShawnLee “refuses to cooperate,” according to Souza.