The Mohawk construction firms awarded a $66-million contract to repair the Mercier Bridge are dismissing allegations by a Quebec ironworkers union that the project was being done by unqualified workers and lead paint was poisoning the environment.

"Everyone knows unions - they'll say and do anything to make a job a union job," a visibly upset Wayne Rice, chairman of the Mohawk Bridge Consortium, said yesterday.

The consortium consists of five Kahnawake construction firms hired by the federal government to replace the concrete deck of the span linking Kahnawake and LaSalle.

The union's Local 711, along with the Conseil provincial du Québec des métiers de la construction, issued a news release yesterday titled "Mercier Bridge repairs ... a catastrophy!" (sic).

The statement contends the contract was awarded two years ago without competitive bidding, and that most of the workers are not qualified by the Commission de la construction du Québec and are not covered by the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail, Quebec's workers' insurance board. Also, the news release claims crews are spattering lead paint chips into the St. Lawrence River.

No CCQ or CSST inspectors have visited the site, Local 711 official Jacques Dubois said.

That's because provincial agencies have no jurisdiction on Mohawk territory, said André Girard, vice-president (communications) with the Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Inc., the crown corporation responsible for the Mercier Bridge. The Mohawks have their own workers' insurance board, he added.

Private engineering firms oversee all aspects of the work and report to the federal government, he said.

The contract was awarded under the federal procurement strategy for aboriginal businesses, under an accord dating from 1932 saying the Mohawks have priority for maintenance and repairs, Girard said. "They're the best on the planet," he said. "This has all been answered before. It makes you wonder why the union is raising this again."

About 30 per cent of the 90 Mohawks working on the bridge belong to Local 711, Rice said.

Local 711 filed a motion in Quebec Superior Court yesterday to "force the CCQ to do its work," overseeing the project.