City officials on Tuesday joined local labor leaders in protesting work that’s being done at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel on Pittsburgh’s South Side.
The city and Allegheny-Fayette Central Labor Council say the work is being done without the required permitting and is using out-of-state non-union workers to do work that shouldn’t be done while people are staying in the hotel.
Hotel employees alerted labor leaders about the work, the labor council’s president, Darrin Kelly, said.
The city’s Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections investigated, and one June 9 issued a stop work notice and noted three code violations associated with the work. The hotel is set to be re-inspected June 25, according to the notice the city sent to Driftwood Hospitality Management, the North Palm Beach, Fla. company that owns the hotel.
“We hope to have this issue resolved in the near future so we would prefer not to comment at this time,” Nora Minichino, director of corporate communications for Driftwood, wrote in an email.
The general manager of the hotel, Paul S. Bazzano, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Last week, the labor council protested outside the hotel and on Tuesday city council members formally condemned what’s happening at the hotel.
“This is an extremely troubling situation,” Kelly told council members.
The work being done at the hotel is more than “basic trim work” and involves demolition that shouldn’t be done in an occupied hotel, without proper permits, Kelly said.
“If you’re willing to do something like this, what else has happened?” Kelly said.
Safety guidelines notwithstanding, it’s also troubling the hotel brought in workers from a Florida-based company instead of using local labor, Councilman Anthony Coghill said.
He and other council members agreed with Kelly and council approved an action that formally “express its concern about acceptable business practices being ignored by Sheraton Station Square management.”
The action has the support of Mayor Bill Peduto.
“The Station Square matter remains under PLI investigation – it is the city’s duty to make sure all buildings and worksites are safe and following city code,” Peduto spokesman Tim McNulty said.
