The owner of a downtown Chatham condo development is pulling the plug on the project.
In a brief interview with BlackburnNews.com, Victor Boutin says a battle with the union representing construction workers led to the decision. Boutin calls the union "parasites " that he wants off his back. He called the workers incompetent and that workers were being pushed on him. He also claimed a union member made a costly mistake pouring concrete that delayed the project, adding to his aggravation.
However, LIUNA 625 Business Manager Rob Petroni is firing back, saying the workers joined the union after the job already started. "I don't know if he's got a Grade 3 education or if he's just choosing to be an idiot. But the workers joined our union, and like in every other case, the job that the workers are performing doesn't become union, it's future job sites that become union."
Petroni suspects money issues have led Boutin to stop the project, and is using the union as a scapegoat. But Boutin, who owns Everlast Group, says he'd gladly restart construction without the union members. Boutin then abruptly ended the interview.
In the last two years of construction, only two stories of the 12-storey building have been built.
