Members of the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters walked the picket line outside the 6830 Wilshire Blvd. project. (photo by Edwin Folven)

Members of the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters demonstrated on Aug. 19 and 20 outside a building under renovation at 6830 Wilshire Blvd., calling for the city to ensure construction workers are protected and that more union workers be hired for housing projects.

The 17-story office building on Wilshire Boulevard built in 1963 is being transformed by developer Jamison Services into a residential tower with 217 apartments.

“I want to be really clear about this: we are pro housing. We want to build housing. L.A. has to build housing. We are in a housing crisis,” said Doug Hicks, of the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters. “But you can’t do it on the back of exploited workers.”

Hicks said there are no workers from the union on Jamison Services’ Wilshire Boulevard job. The demonstrations were symbolic, with the goal of calling attention to the importance of treating workers fairly. Hicks said the city should be doing more to ensure companies are following labor laws.

“Some of [the workers] outright aren’t being paid for their work. A lot of them are being paid cash, and a lot of people think, ‘well, cash pay is not illegal,’ but cash pay without an itemized statement is,” Hicks said. “And do you know why they pay workers in cash? They avoid workman’s comp, payroll taxes, but there is more to it. What do you need to get an apartment? Proof of income, and if you never give a worker proof of their income, you can keep them forced to live in an underground economy that is controlled by labor brokers, and it perpetuates this cycle of poverty and exploitation.”

Calls to Jamison Services for comment were not returned by press time. The completion date for the adaptive reuse project at 6830 Wilshire Boulevard was not available.