Construction controversy in Niantic

Niantic (WTNH) - A company hired to fix the Niantic River railroad bridge is not required to hire Connecticut workers.

Amtrak hired Maine-based Cianbro Corporation to do the work. Cianbro has a regional office in Bloomfield but they did not sign a project labor agreement guaranteeing Connecticut workers only on the $104 million federally funded project.

"It could have springboarded the economy around here, local people who've been out of work for a year, or over a year," said Keith Brothers, AFL/CIO. "The spirit of the Recovery Act is that local people would gain opportunities in their community where those jobs are funded."

Cianbro's president, Andi Vigue, says they will be hiring local workers where possible.

"What I can say, the majority of the people we will be employing will be local people and that our sub-vendors may be employing people from other areas that have special skills," he said.

"'Mostly' doesn't work. 'Mostly' takes money out of Connecticut," said Charles LeConche, CT Labors' District Council.

The work is scheduled to begin in April and is expected to take up to three years.