Group Protests Hyatt Place Construction Firm's Workplace Practices

About a dozen people protested the workplace practices of Tishman Construction and its subcontractors in front of the Hyatt Place restaurant and retail complex on Monday.

They carried large signs stating that "Tishman Construction Has 24 Serious OSHA Violations and is working in your community. Beware."

One of the protesters, who would only identify himself as Ed from Braintree because he claimed to have been misrepresented by the media in the past, said that Tishman is "hiring less than scrupulous subcontractors" at the Braintree site. He specifically mentioned low wages and alleged that the company is using out-of-state, unlicensed contractors.

Ed denied the protest was union-related. 

Much of what the protesters claimed could not be independently confirmed on Monday, but an examination of the Occupational Safety & Health Administration's online database does show at least two dozen violations during the last 10 years at Tishman's construction sites around the country. Those violations, varying in severity, were found during the course of at least 69 inspections.

Tishman is a company of AECOM, an international conglomerate focusing on real estate management, design and building. A spokeswoman for AECOM did not respond to requests for comment.

The OSHA database shows one completed inspection for Tishman Construction in Massachusetts over the past five years – at the Hyatt worksite last September. There is no violation attached to that report.

Another, open inspection report for a related Tishman entity, at 34-37 Forbes Road, was created on Feb. 1, 2012, and contains a "serious" violation with a potential $7,000 penalty that has not been finalized. Both inspection reports at Forbes Road indicate that it is a non-union worksite.

Ted Fitzgerald, a Boston-based spokesman for OSHA, said that the agency does not characterize businesses and instead lets its data speak for itself. He also said that it is not unusual to see the number of inspections and notices of violations attached to a large firm like Tishman Construction that has worked on projects throughout the United States.

AECOM, through Tishman Construction Corporation and other entities, has been involved in projects such as renovations at the Pentagon, the development of CityCenter in Las Vegas, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security campus in Washington, DC, and  construction management at the new World Trade Center in New York City.