October 17, 2019 (Nashville). We first confronted Skanska a year and 5 months ago, when 90 construction workers reported over $1 million in claims of wage theft while building the JW Marriott under Skanska’s general contracting. Now, Skanska has refused a delegation of labor leaders from Sweden and the United Kingdom, along with local Nashville worker organizers, when we attempted to conduct a worksite safety check on Skanska’s $430 million 5th and Broadway development project.

According to Skanska’s global agreement and their contract with the Swedish Building Workers’ Union, BYGNAADS, the union president Johan Lindholm has the right to enter Swedish-owned Skanska sites for safety checks. On October 9, international labor leaders were joined by President of the Nashville Central Labor Council Vonda McDaniel, Ironworkers’ and Painters’ union leaders, Workers’ Dignity, and faith leaders to attempt to hold Skanska to their word. It appears that while the billion-dollar corporation claims to be a worker-friendly employer in Europe, Skanska continues to take the low road of profiteering in Nashville and the U.S. South in general. Instead of honoring their agreement, Skanska created a safety & fire hazard by padlocking the gates, and locking in workers.

Nashville Developer Sparks International Concern 

The Swedish Building Workers’ Union, BYGNAADS, the construction union representing nearly all construction crafts in Sweden, and UNITE the Union, which represents all construction workers in the United Kingdom, came to Nashville to find out if Swedish-owned Skanska upholds its commitments to international labor rights.  

The international union delegation that visited last week was especially concerned over Skanska’s use of low-road subcontractors and lack of responsibility for everyone on its worksites. Weak labor laws in the U.S. and the fact that Tennessee is a “Right to Work” state with abysmal enforcement of health and safety play to the advantage of billionaire contractors like Skanska. They avoid liability for worker pay or safety on Nashville worksites while profiting handsomely from our city’s construction boom. 

And while Skanska recognizes the rights of workers to organize outside the United States — and in many Northern cities — the company largely rolls nonunion in the South, with deadly consequences. Check this out:

• Skanska settled a lawsuit brought by the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) in Memphis over discrimination and retaliationclaims. 
• In Orlando, Florida, 5 workers have been killed and 160 injured on the I-4 corridor project in which Skanska is part of a joint venture. 
• Last year, Skanska sued workers who built the JW Marriott luxury hotel in downtown Nashville when they demanded payment for unpaid wages from a subcontractor of Skanska. 

These and other concerns brought labor leaders from across the world to inspect Skanska’s site. Skanska validated these concerns when they refused entrance and deadbolted workers inside, with the help of off-duty MNPD officers. 

What is Skanska Trying to Hide?

If Skanska refuses safety checks that they are bound to by international agreements, then how can we be sure they are keeping workers safe? Are we supposed to hope and pray that the fox will protect the henhouse?

Nashville is already among the most hazardous cities in the country, with record numbers of construction worker deaths and debilitating injuries. Skanska is a prominent developer, behind many multi-million dollar projects across the city. 

What is Skanska hiding? Who is holding Skanska accountable? When will this billion-dollar corporation begin to take responsibility for all who labor on it’s projects? When will it treat our city and our people with dignity?

Follow our facebook page for updates, watch the video of our delegation, and learn and how you can get involved to hold employers responsible for ALL of their workers.