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Jay-Z's 40/40 Club Gets The Union Rat Treatment
By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 3, 2011
Modified Sep 3, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 3, 2011
Modified Sep 3, 2011
Share
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Fresh off last weekend's confirmation that there will be a mini-Z roaming the hallways of Roc-A-Fella records in the near future, Jay-Z's 40/40 Club in the Flatiron district has come under scrutiny this week for sketchy labor practices, prompting some inflatable union rats to appear. Jay-Z's got 99 problems, and a labor dispute is one.
A representative from the New York City District Council of Carpenters explained what the fight is over to Curbed in an email, writing:
A rat is a contractor that does not pay all of its employees the Area Standard Wages, including either providing or making payments for family health care and pension benefits. Shame on the 40/40 CLUB & Shawn Carter aka Jay Z for contributing to the erosion of area standards for New York City Carpenters. The New York City District Council of Carpenters has a labor dispute with A&V Drywall which is performing work at 6 West 25th Street in NYC. 40/40 CLUB & Shawn Carter aka Jay Z is responsible for hiring CONELLE CONSTRUCTION CORP. Conelle Construction does not meet area labor standards, including providing or fully paying for family healthcare and pension for all of its carpenter craft employees.
The club, which is currently closed for renovations and due to re-open on November, responded to the accusations, telling TMZ that they are in a non-union building and are not required to use union contractors. In addition, they allege that some protestors have been using racial slurs against the workers, which the rep called a "poor tactic" to try intimidate people and scare away business. And if there's one area Jay-Z knows how to traverse, it's this world; after all, he's a business man, not a business, man.
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40/40 club
flatiron
jay-z
labor dispute
manhattan
union rat
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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