TONAWANDA, N.Y. — With the first glints of sun coming up over Kenmore Avenue, slowly burning off the morning’s 22-degree freeze, several dozen construction union members rallied Wednesday in protest of developer Michael Wopperer, hoping to highlight loopholes in New York’s prevailing wage law.
Wopperer, the tradesmen and organizers said, had amassed some $17 million in public subsidies for his $23 million renovation of the former Wood & Brooks factory just across the road, yet will not be required to pay prevailing wage to the workers he’s employing on the project.
Wopperer told Investigative Post he’s employing some union workers on the project, but couldn’t afford to complete the 55 apartments and business incubator with all union labor. That means some of the laborers will earn lower hourly wages than their coworkers despite the project being supported by taxpayers in the Town of Tonawanda, Erie County and elsewhere across New York.
