With UN's Skanska Under Fire for Minority & Mafia Hiring, Food Out onto 1st Ave

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 29 -- The UN's contractor for its $2 billion Capital Master Plan, Skanska USA, is now under investigation for fraudulently not hiring minority-owned subcontractors and, reportely, using a Mafia-connected carting company in its work in Manhattan.

On November 29, Inner City Press asked the UN's acting Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq what the UN thinks and will do about the reports, which became public the day before Thanksgiving. Video here, from Minute 10:45.

Haq in essence refused to answer, saying “that's really a question for Skanska to answer, it's up to you to deal with them on that.”

Inner City Press repeated that the question was and is for the UN: will the UN continue to use and pay a contractors even if it defrauded minority hiring rules and was linked with the Mafia?

Haq said that the UN would “evaluate its relations” with contractors. But apparently minority (and Mafia) hiring is not enough for the UN: Haq said he would have no comment on this one, it's “for Skanska and not us.” We'll see.

As the UN was selecting Skanska, Inner City Press asked Capital Master Plan chief Michael Adlerstein about cases pending in Argentina in what is there called the “Skanska scandal,” only to be told that such characterization was unfair. Perhaps minority (and Mafia) hiring fraud is not a scandal either?

Meanwhile, the lack of planning in the Capital Master Plan became publicly evident on Monday afternoon, when contractors from Aramark were forced to go out onto First Avenue with rolling carts of beverages and food for a reception to be held in the General Assembly lobby. There is now no way to move food and drink from the UN cafeteria kitchen other than through the streets.

Aramark workers rolling from UN, CMP / DM planning not shown (c) MRLee

Due to this lack of planning, dozens of Aramark workers are losing their jobs as the UN Department of Management has decided to close down the Delegates' Dining Room other than for special events -- like the Department of Management's holiday party. Only at the UN.

Footnote: with the UN still not disclosing where its tests have found bedbugs, it has been confirmed to the Press that on the Dag Hammarskjold Library second floor, only the studios of BBC and NHK and Al Jazeera, where bedbugs were found, will be fumigated. Despite press requests that the whole floor be fumigated, this is not being done. Nor has there been any update on the fleas found in the Publishing Section, first reported by Inner City Press. Watch this site.