TOLEDO, Ohio — After a week and a half of protests outside the Marina District project, the construction was put on temporary hold.
The reason is a labor dispute. The group finishing the plumbing of the project didn't have a proper license to do work in Toledo, according to business manager for Local 50 Plumbers and Steamfitters, Scott Lopez.
Lopez said this could have been avoided if local workers had been hired.
"This protects the area standards for wages that we have in our area, which helps us patronize the local businesses because we live here, we pay taxes here, and we spend our money here," he said.
Lopez said local workers were the ones who built the shell of the buildings for the project. But now, Continental Building Company has hired non-local workers to finish.
"We just want everybody to be aware that we're here, we're local, we're licensed, and we're ready to go to work," he said.
The building's project manager previously said the company was committed to hiring union workers and that they already have union plumbers and electricians on the project.
WTOL reached out to Continental Building Company for comment on the halt and finishing the project with local workers, but they declined to comment.
Local 50 members are holding a meeting Tuesday night following the hold to discuss the next steps and ways to get local laborers working.
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