Watching a crew work Tuesday on the future Hyatt Hospitality Suites on the corner of Plumb Lane and Terminal Way in Reno, Paul McKenzie pointed out two safety violations as a panel was being hoisted by a crane without being secured and another as a worker was on the edge of the fourth floor without wearing a restraint.

"You're supposed to put up 2-by-6's to retain as handrails," said McKenzie, secretary-treasurer of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Northern Nevada (BCTCNN). "On the far side, there's none of that. They're undercutting our area standards."

McKenzie and about 20 other people of all construction trades — operating engineers, carpenters, electricians and more — picketed the Hyatt site for improper licensing of contractors, sub-standard wages and safety concerns.

McKenzie said Lousiana-based Intercoastal Hospitality, Inc., the general contractor of the project, did not have the proper license to bid on the project or work in Nevada.

Section 624.700 of the Nevada Revised Statutes says it is illegal for any combination of persons to submit a bid on a job in Nevada without having an active license unless they have an exemption per section 624.031, which stipulates the rule does not apply to an authorized representative of the federal, state or local governments.

Attempts by the Tribune to reach Hyatt representatives for comment by press time were unsuccessful.

Intercoastal and its subcontractors, McKenzie continued, are paying less than area standard wage.

"They're not being responsible for providing health and wealth benefits, retirement and training," he said. " ... They imported their standards into our community. It's not because there aren't enough workers here available to work; it's because they want to do it cheaper."

Mike Kinney, a field representative with the Laborers' International Union America Local 169, said sub-standard wages hurts everyone in the state.

"It's almost a race to the bottom, which we don't need in today's society," he said. "There are people who will work for that wage, but it undermines what the unions fight for and whatever the unions fight for affects the private sector, too, and a lot of people don't realize that."

The picketers included members of the BCTCNN, which consists of 19 unions. The BCTCNN is involved with some major local projects, including Reno's AAA baseball stadium, Renown Regional Medical Center and the Galena bridge.

McKenzie said in addition to the licensing, safety is also of great concern to the BCTCNN. With budget cutbacks, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) hasn't had the staff to send out for regular inspections, he said. The violations he claims to have seen would be enough to shut down the project entirely, he said.

"We'd just as soon not be on a project than be responsible for the conduct that's going on there," McKenzie said.

He said he doesn't believe OSHA has ever been on the site for an inspection since construction began.

"This is your land, this is my piece of land," said Bill Mchaney, an operating engineer who was protesting Tuesday. "It's the airport's land. It's public land, so it should fall within prevailing wage."

Mchaney said a bonus should be in order for bidding the work out to local trades.

"They give the contract to a guy who doesn't even have a contractor's license at the time or the right permits necessary, then they bring those people to come to work here when we've got people right here who are real hungry," Mchaney said.

"I think we need to take care of our own backyard before we start giving it away," Mchaney continued.

McKenzie said about 30 percent of workers in construction in the Reno-Sparks area are out of work, and there are limited opportunities for training to expand the pool of qualified employees.

Mike Wakeling of Fernley said it's difficult on the different construction trades, many of which were represented at the picket Tuesday.

"Crane work, heavy equipment, dirt work – but we've got electricians, carpenters, laborers, pipefitters," Wakeling said. "Whatever the unions are, all of us unions are sticking together."

Wakeling said he is currently not working — or as he called it, "unenjoyment."

"It's not a good thing for a household," he said. "Like anywhere, times are tough. ... We're all Americans. We're all trying to feed our families. ... This is our bread and butter."

The economic state can no longer be called just a recession, he said.

"We all know what situations we're in," Wakeling continued. "We're in hard times. They say we're in a recession. We're not in a recession; we're in a depression and nobody wants to say anything."

Informing the public, McKenzie said, could be the only way to get their voices heard about the plight of construction workers.

"The only thing we hope can be done with today's action is it will make other people aware of what's going on here and it won't spread to other projects in the city of Reno," McKenzie said.