Daily Beast
By Michael Daly
July 8, 2015
The
use of undocumented workers on a Trump construction site such as the
hotel described by The Washington Post this week is certainly nothing
new.
Thirty-five
years ago, a small army of illegal immigrants was used to clear the
site for what became the crown jewel of Donald Trump’s empire.
The
200 demolition workers—nicknamed the Polish Brigade because of their
home country—worked 12-hour shifts, seven days a week with no overtime
to knock down the old Bonwit
Teller building and make room for Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in
Manhattan.
According
to testimony in a protracted civil suit in federal court, the laborers
were paid $5 an hour or less when they were paid at all. Some went
unpaid after the contractor
had financial troubles. A few never received even the paltry sum that
was owed them for their dirty and hazardous efforts preceding the
construction of Trump’s monument to his own wealth.
“They
were undocumented and worked ‘off the books,’” Manhattan federal Judge
Charles Stewart said of the workers after they became the subject of a
1983 lawsuit. “No records
were kept, no Social Security or other taxes were withheld.”
Trump
was speaking with more firsthand knowledge than his readers likely
imagined when he wrote in his 2011 book Time to Get Tough: Making
America #1 Again that “illegal
immigration is a wrecking ball aimed at U.S. Taxpayers.”
How interesting that he would choose a wrecking ball as a metaphor.
The
lawsuit involving literal demolition—Case 83CIV6346 in Manhattan
Federal Court—was brought by Harry Diduck, a now deceased dissident
member of Local 95 of the House
Wreckers Union. His lawyer, Wendy Sloan, says he was one of a group of
like-minded workers who simply wanted “a real union.” They had stood to
gain nothing at all for themselves as they sought to prove that Trump
and his partner, along with the general contractor,
conspired to cheat the House Wreckers out of pension and welfare
contributions by hiring these non-union laborers.
Judge
Stewart initially tossed out the complaint against Trump and his
partner on the grounds that the contractor was the responsible party
regarding the workers. The
plaintiffs appealed, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit reinstated the complaint, returning the case to Judge Stewart.
During
the 16-day non-jury trial, a number of the Polish workers testified
that Trump underlings had threatened them with deportation if they
caused trouble. They walked
in to the job from Brooklyn when a transit strike hit the city. Some of
them slept at the site.
Two workers further testified that they had approached Trump in person to demand overdue wages.
“In fact, we helped people and it has cost a lot of money in legal fees.”
Trump
took the stand, even back in those days sporting a red “power” tie,
blue pinstriped suit, and that hair. He told the court that he almost
certainly did not speak
to the laborers, in part because he was fearful of venturing into so
dangerous a workplace.
“I
tend not to walk into buildings under demolition,” Trump said. “You
have to be very brave to be in a building under demolition. I’m not sure
I’m that brave.”
He added that he had no need to visit the site because “You can see it from a block away.”
He
further testified that in any event he could not remember ever speaking
to any of the workers or even being aware there were Polish workers on
the site.
“When did you learn Polish workers were on the job?” he was asked by his lawyer, Milton Gould.
“Probably sometime after the demolition,” Trump replied.
“Did it ever occur to you that they were illegal?” Gould inquired.
“It
was never proven to me that they were illegal,” said the developer,
adding that he only heard that they might not be in the country legally
“sometime after the demolition
work.”
At one point, he allowed that he had become aware that there were undocumented workers there, but only late in the project.
“Probably after the demolition,” he said.
He
apparently was referring to having retained the contractor who hired
the Polish Brigade when he said, “I can make mistakes. This was a
mistake.”
The
lawyer representing the Polish Brigade had reported receiving a call
from someone who identified himself as “John Baron” and said Trump was
ready to hit the lawyer
with a $100 million lawsuit if he kept causing trouble.
Trump
now acknowledged on the stand that he had used the pseudonym “John
Baron,” as had one of his assistants. But Trump insisted that his use of
it was only long after
the completion of the Fifth Avenue tower, which became the first of
many properties on which he so rapturously bestowed his real surname.
“Lots of people use pen names,” he told a reporter after he stepped down from the witness stand. “Ernest Hemingway used one.”
The
judge found against Trump, his partner, and the contractor, saying they
had joined in a “conspiracy.” Stewart found that Trump’s man on the
scene, Thomas Macari, “was
involved in every aspect of the demolition job.”
“He
knew the Polish workers were working ‘off the books,’ that they were
doing demolition work, that they were non-union, that they were paid
substandard wages with no
overtime pay, and that they were paid irregularly if at all,” the judge
found.
Stewart suggested that it would have been difficult for anyone not to notice the Polish Brigade.
“The
Polish workers were obvious not only in numbers but also in
appearance,” the judge found. “In contrast to the union workers, the
nonunion Polish workers were distinguished
by the fact that most of them did not wear hard hats.”
Trump
appealed. The Second Circuit returned a complicated opinion,
overturning part of the decision and referring it for “further
proceedings.”
The
appeals court found that if the Trump parties had not known of the
Polish workers, “they should have known.” According to The New York
Times, Trump maintained that
he was not aware there were undocumented laborers on the site. He said
he was also unaware of the circumstances they were working under. He
insisted he was not liable for the union payments.
“All
we did was to try to keep a job going that was started by someone
else,” Trump told The New York Times in 1998. “In fact, we helped people
and it has cost a lot of
money in legal fees.”
The
case was finally settled in 1999 and then sealed. That was 19 years
after the demolition began, 16 years after the suit was filed.
Trump did not return a request for comment placed through a spokeswoman.
The
tower that is his crown jewel and symbol of his wealth continues to
stand on ground cleared by 200 undocumented workers who labored off the
books, 12 hours a day,
seven days a week, for no more than $5 an hour with no overtime.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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