Workers claim victory after MNPS School Board takes a stand for construction worker rights, abstains from contracting low-road construction company.

“I think you all know why I’m here.” Armando Arzate was one of the first workers to address the Metro Nashville School Board on Tuesday, November 10th. It’s been an entire year since Armando first stood before the Board and called on them to address his claims of $43,000 in stolen wages for work his team performed renovating McMurray Middle School. Orion Building Corporation, the general contractor for the project, continues to take zero responsibility for the dirty subcontractors it hired. And in the past year, the School Board not only neglected their responsibility to ensure Armando is paid, but continued to do business with Orion. Last night, after hearing public comments from more than a dozen workers, 5 School Board members– a majority– abstained on the motion to approve two more multimillion dollar contracts for Orion. Without a majority, the motion failed. 

This is a major victory for Armando and all construction workers on Metro Nashville Public School projects. General contractors, which stand on the top of the labor contracting chain, frequently hire low-road subcontractors that exploit workers who perform that actual labor. Until last night, neither Orion nor MNPS leadership would take moral responsibility for the fact that they both benefited from the labor of workers claiming $43,000 of wage theft.

Construction workers, MNPS parents, student speak out.

Before the vote, Latino construction workers and MNPS parents passionately spoke before the  School Board, urging it to only use construction companies that respect workers’ dignity and rights.

“This could happen to me, my mom, my dad, or anyone that I care for,” stated Alondra, an MNPS middle school student and daughter of a construction worker. “We want justice,” declared Workers’ Dignity member Adriana, who has experienced wage theft before. Workers echoed this throughout the night. “If you steal from him, you steal from all of us,” said construction committee member Bernardo. “So many companies think it’s so easy to cheat us and not pay us for our work,” Antonio emphasized. Beatriz, a mother of three MNPS students, gave one of the last comments, “This company is using taxpayer dollars. That’s our money. They are exploiting all of us.”

Through the night, over 20 construction workers, parents, students, and teachers stated their support for Armando and demanded the Board only give contracts to responsible construction companies. School Board members Fran Bush, Emily Masters, Bertheena Nabaa-McKinney, Freda Player-Peters, and Abigail Tylor listened to workers and abstained from approving proposed contracts with Orion, despite repeated statements from the Metro Legal Department alleging that Orion could sue the school district. Many of the construction workers present said they felt like the Metro Legal Department was bullying the Board to put corporate profits over the wellbeing of workers, many of whom are parents of MNPS students.

We appreciate these Board members for their votes, for governing for the well-being of the people, and for putting actions behind their words of support.

Christiane Buggs, Rachel Anne Elrod, and Sharon Gentry continue to show that they side with a multi-million dollar company over exploited workers. Among their excuses were that they wish they knew a few months ago. Perhaps they chose to not listen, because Armando first came to them in November 2019 and has reached out multiple times to provide more information. Some Board members belittled Armando by suggesting he should have resolved this issue by signing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that included multiple disputed statements with Orion last year.

Let us be clear: agreeing to a contract of silence is not justice. Workers’ power is in our collective voice. Silencing us means more abuse will happen. As one construction worker, Ricardo, told the Board, “I know you get paid [for your job]. Sometimes we do not. We work, and we have to walk away because of intimidation. Because we are afraid.” We lessen our fears by organizing and acting collectively, and workers have every right to know about corruption and theft in our system. There is no justice for Armando or any worker under an NDA.

No more wage theft in MNPS. La lucha sigue. 

Armando and other members of the commercial construction campaign will continue their fight to change the rules that award companies who commit theft and abuse. Targeting those at the top of the construction contracting chain, in this case MNPS, is how we will change conditions for workers that labor on construction sites. Last night’s outcome shows that things don’t have to be this way. Workers will improve our conditions by fighting for what’s right.

You can catch up on Armando’s fight here or watch video footage from the Board meeting here.