Union members picket the Capital Cove residential project on Park Row last month.

The Providence Journal / Andrew Dickerman

This story of statewide interest originally appeared in a local news section.

PROVIDENCE — The developer and the unions who have repeatedly picketed the Capitol Cove project have reached a deal that will end the picketing permanently and give union contractors a far greater share of the work on the project.

The deal will mean the exclusion of several non-union subcontractors from later stages of the multi-building project, including East Providence’s Ferreira Concrete Forms, a frequent union target. In addition, the current construction manager, the open-shop Tocci Construction Management of Woburn, Mass., would be ineligible for managing the later stages.

Massachusetts developer Robert S. Roth is building two 4½-story apartment buildings at the Canal Street site, totaling 249 units — some condominium and some rental apartments — and a small parking garage, at a cost of roughly $60 million. Later stages of the project envision three towers and enlargement of the parking garage.

The first of the two apartment buildings is under construction now, and almost since work began, local unions have picketed the job site.

A Sept. 4 confrontation led to the filing of a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board against Local 94 of the carpenters union, Local 251 of the Teamsters union and Local 271 of the Laborers’ International Union on charges of illegal mass picketing and blocking the entrance to the site. The construction manager charged that union members blocked access to the site, broke a pickup truck window and threw construction equipment into a canal.

The NLRB barred members of those unions from picketing the site, but other local unions took over the picketing. At one point, tires were slashed on cars belonging to a project subcontractor, though no one was charged in the incident.

At the same time, the City Council began exploring whether Roth was in compliance with his city tax treaty, which the city calculates is worth $8.7 million over 20 years. The city argued that Roth needed an apprenticeship program to comply with the treaty, and that work may not have started by the proper date in order for Roth to claim certain extra bonuses. If he was found to be out of compliance, the city could, in theory, revoke the treaty.

With all that in motion, City Council Majority Leader Terrence M. Hassett tried to bring the developer and the union together for talks. The mood initially was tough, both sides said, but after several meetings they began to find common ground.

The talks resulted in an agreement where the first building will be built largely with the existing contractors, though local union contractors will be able to rebid on the project.

For the second building, only contractors with a state-registered apprenticeship program would be eligible to bid on the project. That effectively excludes many of the current contractors, as those programs can be expensive and are run primarily by the building trades.

“A large percentage of them would be off building B,” Roth said of his existing contractors.

Excluded by that provision is Ferreira Concrete Forms of East Providence, which has been the target of much of the union effort.

In addition, the construction management firm, Tocci, would not be involved in the second and third phases of the project: the expansion of the parking garage and the three proposed towers.

“A signatory union contractor would build phase 2,” Roth said.

Roth will also have to participate in the Building Futures program, a social service program that recruits local residents and places them in union apprenticeship programs.

The agreement was signed last week and union pickets outside the site disappeared.

Roth said he was satisfied with the agreement.

“I’m happy with it. I think it’s a win-win situation for everyone,” he said.

Gregory Mancini of BuildRI, a partnership among 17 local unions, helped negotiate the deal from the union side. He said it was the most interesting process he’s dealt with.

“Under this agreement, the developer will get his taxes stabilized, the contractors of the building trades will have an opportunity to be on the job, and the residents of the city will have the opportunity to gain access and training for new employment opportunities on the project,” Mancini said.

Hassett said that the evolution of the agreement between the developer and the unions was a “groundbreaking” experience.

“Where we are today, compared to where we were just two months ago, is a testament to the people standing here today and their commitment to finding a resolution,” he said.

Work on the first building has continued in the past weeks despite the picketing.

Half the footings and half the foundation are done on the first building, which is expected to be completed late next year. Roth expects to start work on the second building as soon as the winter ends.

Mayor David N. Cicilline said that the agreement is a good start, but that there is more work to be done in ensuring that the project lives up to its agreements with the city.

“The resolution reached between the state’s building trades and the developers of Capitol Cove represents a critical first step in this process,” Cicilline said.

The city and the developer must still work out whether Roth will receive an additional $100,000 credit for starting work on one phase of the project before Dec. 31, 2006. Roth argues that he started work. The city maintains that he did not.

And in addition to the state-registered apprenticeship program that all future Capitol Cove subcontractors will have to maintain, the developer himself is creating an apprenticeship program to ensure compliance with the city’s tax treaty. That review effort is ongoing.

“The next step will be to ensure that this agreement is consistent with the terms and conditions set forth by the tax stabilization agreement and our goal of creating jobs for Providence residents,” Cicilline said.

dbarbari@projo.com