Rockville Centre smells a rat

Union protesters have set up a new addition to the front of Rockville Centre’s Village Hall — a large, inflatable rat— to protest the construction of the AvalonBay apartment complex.

The rat appeared on June 3. It is the work of union organizers who are displeased that AvalonBay is not currently using union labor on the site.

“As soon as the unions are removed, you lose your watchdogs,” said John O'Brien, an organizer for Laborers Local 66. “They're [unions] are very important, especially in projects this size.”

Even though organizers set up the rat in front of village hall — and not at the construction site — village officials declined to comment. However, Mayor Mary Bossart has previously said that the dispute is between AvalonBay and the union, and that the village won't be drawn into it. The union sees it differently.

“We will keep it up until the building trades meet with the mayor, the Town of Hempstead supervisor and the AvalonBay project managers together,” said O'Brien. “We need to get them together. To solve problems, you've got to work together.”

AvalonBay said it has employed union workers — workers from Local 66, specifically — earlier in the project, and most likely will again.

“We continue to be disappointed in [the union's] approach to this issue," said Matthew Whalen, AvalonBay's Long Island vice president. "There have been many union jobs on the site for over a year, and we continue to look for ways to employ them on the job.”

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