DeVry protest

Members of Carpenters Local 254 protest outside DeVry University in North Brunswick.

(Vernal Coleman/NJ.com)

NORTH BRUNSWICK – Members of a local trade union say that the North Brunswick campus that houses both DeVry University and Ross University has a "rat-contractor" problem.

To illustrate the accusation, several members and supporters of the Carpenters Local 254 spent the morning holding up protest signs in front of two large rat-shaped balloons near the campus front entrance.

“We’re just out here to let the public know that there’s a contractor doing work in there who is not paying workers the standard wage,” said Kevin Brown, council representative for the Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters.

Brown says that workers engaged in a refurbishing project at the campus are not being paid the “area-standard” $64 per hour wage. Workers are instead being paid $20 per hour, with no benefits package included, Brown says.

The dispute between the contractors and the universities boiled after the project was put out for bid, says Brown. Companies who have agreed with the union to pay workers the area-standard wage were not invited to submit proposals, he adds.

Brown could not say how much the construction project is worth, or how many workers are employed by the contracting company.

A spokesperson for DeVry, a for-profit university with campuses located across the country, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Representatives for the company who protestors say actually won the contract did not return calls for comment.

Brown says union members will protest outside the university until the project is completed.

MORE MIDDLESEX COUNTY NEWS

Vernal Coleman can be reached at vcoleman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @vernalcoleman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.