Carpenters' union fumes over Great Wolf

FITCHBURG Area carpenters say they are outraged that a large corporation like Great Wolf Lodge is being rewarded with a $17 million tax break when some contractors hired by the water park conglomerate to work on its newest resort in New England were allegedly paid in cash and did not carry workers' compensation insurance.

The New England Regional Council of Carpenters is asking Greg Bialecki, secretary of the state Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, to rescind approval of the 20-year tax increment financing deal that was awarded to the company after the violations were discovered.

The new resort in Fitchburg is slated to open June 5.

The company, which owns and operates a dozen family resorts in the U.S. and Canada under the Great Wolf Lodge brand, features specialty restaurants, arcades, spas, fitness rooms and children's activity areas, in addition to water parks, at each resort.

Hundreds of people attended a Great Wolf jobs fair in March. The company was looking to fill 500 positions; roughly half are full-time openings.

In an April 16 letter to Mr. Bialecki, New England Regional Council of Carpenters secretary-treasurer Mark Erlich implored him to look into the matter.

On March 26, Great Wolf Lodge of New England was approved for $16.4 million in local tax relief and $680,000 in investment tax credits. Three months earlier, the Department of Industrial Accidents issued eight stop-work orders to eight contractors working on the project for not having Massachusetts workers' compensation insurance, according to DIA documents.

The stop-work orders automatically place the contractors on the DIA's debarment list, Mr. Erlich said, and allegedly make the company ineligible for TIF approval.

In Great Wolf's application for the TIF, the company agreed it would not knowingly hire subcontractors or other third parties that did not have workers' compensation insurance, and the company affirmed it had not hired subcontractors within the past five years that had been debarred by a government agency.

Great Wolf did not inform the state Economic Assistance Coordinating Council of the stop-work orders before the council's meeting to approve the TIF, Mr. Erlich said.

Go here to see the original:
Carpenters' union fumes over Great Wolf