NC should protect undocumented witnesses to Charlotte scaffolding deaths, unions say
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Charlotte Scaffolding Collapse
On Jan. 2, 2023, scaffolding collapsed at a construction site in Charlotte, killing three workers.
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More than two months after a scaffolding collapse in Charlotte killed three men, labor unions are urging state leaders to protect undocumented construction workers who witnessed the collapse so they can safely talk to investigators.
Officials with the Charlotte-Metrolina Labor Council wrote Jennifer Haigwood, deputy commissioner of the N.C. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Division, on Thursday asking that the state adopt a federal policy of temporarily protecting undocumented workers.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security streamlined the process of offering workers deferred action — a process that postpones a person’s deportation.
The protection helps labor and employment agencies gain cooperation from employees as officials investigate workplace violations and crack down on abusive employers, a DHS release said.
Many workers at the East Morehead Street construction site were undocumented immigrants who have not returned to work since the triple fatality, according to the labor council’s letter.
“This made them, and continues to make them, particularly vulnerable to employer harassment, control, and retaliation,” the letter reads. “Workers have also been told not to speak with anyone but the company, and not to share any videos they might have taken.”
The labor council’s letter said interviewing workers familiar with the contractors in such an investigation is key. Workers likely know what safety measures the site had, what inspections practices were in place and how employees were trained.
They might also know if there were previous problems with the site’s scaffolding.
On the morning of Jan. 2, a construction crew was working on a residential tower near Charlotte’s Dilworth neighborhood when a “mast climber” scaffold collapsed. Three workers — Jose Canaca Bonilla, Gilberto Monico Fernández and Jesus “Chuy” Olivares — fell 70 feet to their deaths. Two other workers were injured.
North Carolina’s Occupational Safety and Health Division is investigating and isn’t expected to release its findings for months.
Helping witnesses talk
Ashley Hawkins, president of the Charlotte Metrolina Labor Council, said she and colleagues have talked to several workers who saw the scaffolding collapse and said they were instructed not to share what they saw.
Hawkins declined to say who issued those instructions, saying she does not want to betray the confidence of workers.
“They’re concerned that they didn’t get a chance to participate in the investigation,” Hawkins said. “They’re concerned that if they do talk, they could endanger themselves or their families.
“It has been insinuated to them that putting that kind of information out could get the company in trouble. And sometimes people interpret that as, ‘I could get in trouble.’ ,” Hawkins added.
One of the owners of Friends Masonry Construction, the Charlotte company that employed the three workers who died, said none of his workers were instructed to remain silent about the accident.
“The employees have the liberty to talk about it,” the owner, Alejandro Sanchez, said through an interpreter. “They can talk to whoever they want to.”
Sanchez declined to comment on the accident because it is still under investigation.
Hawkins said she understands that the occupational safety offices in Georgia and Nevada have both taken advantage of the deferred action program in order to gain cooperation from witnesses.
“We’d like (North Carolina) OSHA to use every avenue available, including this one, to ensure they’re doing the most thorough investigation possible.”
On North Carolina construction sites, Hispanic workers accounted for about 27% of the workforce in 2020, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Construction workers sometimes misclassify undocumented workers as contractors, union officials say, but it’s unclear know how many of the workers on the East Morehead Street construction site were undocumented, Hawkins said.
A state Department of Labor spokeswoman confirmed Friday that it received the labor council’s letter.
“The OSH Division is reviewing the information provided in the letter and the associated requests, and will respond to the Charlotte-Metrolina Labor Council after we have completed our review,” wrote Erin Wilson, director of communications. “The OSH Division’s inspection of this accident remains open and we are unable to share any additional details at this time.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2023 at 3:42 PM with the headline "NC should protect undocumented witnesses to Charlotte scaffolding deaths, unions say."
