Remember when last month when union workers at the Matrix Danbury Corporate Center found themselves on the street and held a protest?

About 60 employees -- center's cleaning and maintenance staffs -- lost their jobs Wednesday, according to those on the picket lines.

"It's called union busting," said Brookfield's Ed Burke, the former chief engineer for the building's maintenance crews, who worked at the center for more than 20 years. "They didn't give us anything. They just walked us out of the building."

Burke, who has a wife and two children, said he doesn't know what he's going to do. His wife is a stay-at-home mom.

"There just aren't any jobs out there anymore," he said, adding that he also lost his and his family's health benefits.

The former employees said they were walked off the job by security guards Wednesday afternoon, less than an hour after the sale of the building to Matrix Group Realty of New York.

"This is disgusting," said Courtney Hibert, an employee of one of the building's tenants. "It's not right. Now all these people are out of a job. Nobody will be able to take care of the building like they did."

[...]

Former employees said there were rumors months ago that their jobs were on the line as a result of the sale. Their positions were posted on Monster.com -- a popular job posting Web site -- this spring.

Several of the employees who lost their jobs said they had sent their resumes to the new owner by registered mail but received no response.

[...]

An official with the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 30, which represents the 10 maintenance workers who lost their jobs, said they plan to file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board alleging unfair labor practices.

"This is union busting and it's against the law," said Tony Calandrino, the union's business representative for the state. "They didn't even give these people a chance to interview for their own positions."

When it comes to attempting to jobs for local residents, here's what the last honest man in Danbury said about the outrageous action by Matrix...

Mayor Mark Boughton said he toured the facility with the new owner a couple of months ago and expressed his concern that the employees be accommodated.
"Ultimately they have their business model and will manage the property the best way they know how," Boughton said Thursday.

Talk about leadership right?

Well, maybe Boughton's comment has something to do with the organization sponsoring the 2009 Mayor's Cup.



Food for thought...