October 15, 2019 (Nashville). What happens when a General Contractor that claims to be committed to human rights and labor standards opens up shop in anti-union Nashville, Tennessee? A new report by the AFL-CIO, “The Double Standard at Work: European Corporate Investment and Workers’ Rights in the American South” finds that Swedish-owned Skanska takes advantage of lax labor laws to avoid responsibility for construction workers on their sites, despite being a signatory of the United Nations’ Global Compact to uphold fair working conditions for all workers. 

“In the American South, Skanska is falling short of its commitment to international human rights and labor standards, and even its own agreement with [the Building and Woodworkers International union federation],” the report reads, “the company has taken advantage of low labor standards in Southern states, accepting the region’s anti-union ideology and culture and engaging low-road, nonunion subcontractors in a system that perpetuates economic and racial disparities and exploitation of immigrant workers.” 

But you don’t have to take the report’s word for it. On October 9, Workers’ Dignity members joined a delegation of labor leaders from Sweden and the United Kingdom to conduct a worksite safety check that is mandated by Skanska’s global framework agreement with Swedish unions. When the president of the Swedish Building Workers’ Union, BYGNAADS, attempted to assert his right to enter all Skanska-operated worksites, Skanska officials and off-duty MNPD officers deadbolted the entry and locked workers in, creating a fire and safety hazard. 

Skanska’s decision to ignore their own agreement is hurting workers in Nashville. Not only are construction workers forced to work at uninspected work sites, they also face wage theft and other abuse. Since May 2018, almost 100 people who completed construction with Skanska for luxury hotel JW Marriott filed a $1.6 million lawsuit over wage theft claims. So far, Skanska has paid out $181,000 in wage theft claims, leaving workers to have to confront high-paid corporate lawyers in the courts to recover the remainder. 

When workers’ safety, fair pay, and even our lives are on the line, someone needs to hold Skanska accountable. Stay tuned and follow our facebook page for how you can stand up to Skanska and protect Nashville workers!

You can also read more about Workers’ Dignity’s campaign to hold Skanska responsible, as well as the company’s abusive history in the South, on pages 66-72 of the report.