Union takes to airwaves in battle for recognition.

Union contractors this week fired the first salvo in a war against non-union firms with the launch of a million dollar advertising campaign.

Dubbed "Respect and Recognition" the 18-month campaign will feature slots on public television and radio designed to distinguish union workers from the non-union players they claim are jeopardizing contracts, deterring recruitment and causing insurance rates to skyrocket.

The campaign is largely rooted in a recent study done by the United States Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) study that reveals 86 percent of worksite fatalities in the industry occur on non-union sites.

Though non-union companies have always competed for jobs, their underground economy is growing rapidly and, with it, their disrespect for safety laws, according to Lou Coletti, president of the Building Employers Trade Association, who claimed the trend was resulting in work place accidents and deaths that all contractors are being blamed for.

"Safety is the catalyst. There is no single issue that more clearly defines why you should be building with union contractors," Coletti said.

Definition is becoming increasingly important among workers as skyrocketing medical insurance and pumped up pricing associated with training--particularly safety training--of union workers is causing more firms to sign non-union contractors, according to Steven Alessio, principal of Sweet Construction, and president of the Building Contractors Association.

"In the past two to three years, probably 40-50% of the interior work and 30% of the buildings are going to non-union workers who are less qualified and have lower safety standards," Alessio said.

Increased rates are being compounded by spiralling insurance costs that have been driven up by as much as 300% in the past three years as a direct result of death and accident claims, according to Alessio.

"It's frustrating because we do a better job, we build faster with more qualified men and we are losing a lot of our work basically to undocumented workers and companies that do not have the same insurance rates that we have," Alessio added.

As the city-wide construction boom gathers momentum and union halls are emptying leaving employers grappling to find qualified employees, the need to shed a positive light on the industry has become increasingly important.

"Where a damaged reputation really hurts is in our ability to recruit new people into our industry," Coletti said. "All young people see about our industry is the generally negative publicity--the number of deaths and safety accidents per year."

Indeed, a recent United States Department of Labor recent survey of the top 250 occupations ranked construction at 248.

As well as putting the spotlight on issues of safety, the new campaign will also allow union contractors to distinguish themselves politically.

"We wanted to show that our legacy goes beyond just bricks and mortar, that we pay our taxes, provide 150,000 jobs per year, pay 1.5 billion in taxes and contribute to the future growth of this city. We take pride in what we do and what we do has a larger impact on quality of life in New York," Coletti said.