By Katie Farrell Lovett
NEWBURYPORT — Mark Richey's woodworking company spent nine months to convince the developers of Boston's Russia Wharf high-rise building that his firm would do the best job and give the best price for flooring.
The good news came in last month: The Newburyport firm got the $3 million job, a big contract that represents about a fifth of its annual income.
But within a week, the deal fell apart. Richey said he was told the Carpenters Union had pressured the developer, Wellington Management LLC, into dumping Richey's nonunionized business in favor of a higher-priced, union shop.
Now Richey faces the possibility of layoffs at his 75-employee firm, and he's asking state officials to intervene and have Wellington make good on its deal.
"This simply isn't fair," Richey said. "It was taken away from us, after an award, simply because we are not part of some club., i.e. the union."
Richey sent a letter, co-signed by employees, to dozens of state lawmakers, the governor, attorney general, secretary of state and other state officials yesterday, asking for them to get involved. Some have already stepped up to help, saying Richey was unfairly targeted by the union.
Sara Sherman, of Wellington Management, declined to comment. The Boston local office of the Carpenters Union was closed yesterday when called for comment.
Richey said his company was the pre-qualified bidder on the 33-story project, currently one of the biggest construction projects on the Boston skyline. He said his company performed a "tremendous amount of work," including consulting with the general contractor and architect, and providing mock-ups and samples of the work, all at no cost to the client. Richey said his company was also the preferred choice of all the key decision makers — architect, general contractor, building owner and developer — and he was verbally awarded the contract on Nov. 19.
He said he was stunned to learn from the general contractor that it was being taken away, due to union pressure.
"If we had known we had no chance of getting the job, we would have directed our efforts elsewhere," he said.
Though Mark Richey Woodworking is a nonunion shop, it uses union carpenters to install its Boston work, Richey said, and pays the "prevailing wage or better" for work, plus benefits. The prevailing wage is about $40 to $50 an hour, based on skill levels.
Newburyport's state Sen. Steven Baddour called it "a shame."
"It's wrong on so many different levels," Baddour, D-Methuen, said. "It doesn't make sense to me."
Baddour said he has spoken with Wellington Management Co. officials, whom he said "seemed willing to listen." He said he was "hopeful" the company would keep the commitment it made to Richey. Both he and state Rep. Mike Costello, D-Newburyport, are making phone calls in order to stop any potential layoffs that may result from the loss of the contract, Baddour said.
The state can send a message that they support employers in their district and that they expect that businesses will keep their word after awarding a contract, Baddour said. He also suggested a way to put pressure on Wellington, which provides investment services for the state's retirement funds.
"If there's not a legitimate business reason for Wellington to not award the contract to Mark Richey Woodworking, maybe we should look at whether the state should be using Wellington as part of the commonwealth's investment portfolio."
Costello said the situation concerns him. If it were a state contract, it could be investigated, but as a private company, state officials are limited with what they can do, he said.
"I think it's a sad situation for a company that is good to, maybe even better to, its employees than some union shops," he said. "Clearly, I'm concerned. Mark Richey is a local shop who employs people in my area and the surrounding area."
Richey has an unmatched reputation in woodworking, Costello said, and goes "above and beyond" what is required, which is shown in the fact that his employees haven't chosen to unionize.
Costello said the contract was important to Richey's business, which went through a round of layoffs.
"It's all politics," Richey said yesterday. "We would like to see it exposed. Political pressuring and maneuvering by the union is not acceptable."
He questions the legality of the loss of the contract but said it would be tough to prove.
His company has invested over $50,000 in this project, Richey said. His company and employees are not "enemies of the union," Richey wrote in his letter to Patrick. "We simply believe companies should compete on their merits."
Mark Richey Woodworking is a state certified Women and Minority Owned Business and is among the "greenest" manufacturing companies in the region, utilizing a furnace that burns waste wood and a wind turbine that generates electricity.
