New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced his administration has entered into new project labor agreements with the city’s building trade unions and has proposed state legislation that would require contractors working in the city to hire low-income New Yorkers and those from areas with high poverty levels, according to www.constructiondive.com.
The project labor agreements with the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York contain new terms for renovation work on city-owned buildings and will serve as a template for other city agencies to use. The city also has introduced a new project labor agreement that will cover new construction for select future projects. Both reportedly are intended to create consistency in project work rules; reduce the administrative load on the agencies responsible for construction; and give easier access to pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs.
As part of the community hiring program, a new Office of Community Hiring and Workforce Development will expand access to construction jobs for those in economically disadvantaged communities and authorize other city agencies to do the same.
As part of the new project labor agreement, unions will prioritize referrals from ZIP codes where 15% or more of the population lives below the federal poverty level or are New York City Housing Authority residents, with the goal of using workers from these neighborhoods for 30% of total project labor agreement hours worked.
De Blasio also announced New York City is on track to award 30% of all city contracts to minority- and women-owned businesses by 2021 and $25 billion worth of work across all industries by 2025. The mayor’s office says the city now has 10,000 certified MWBEs, a 173.4% increase since de Blasio took office.
If approved by state lawmakers, the proposals reportedly would create about 1,300 construction jobs for those in low-income communities for every $1 billion in construction. The city also projected the new initiatives would lead to about $1 billion in wages and benefits for the targeted communities during the program’s first year.
Although the mayor’s announcement included praise from community and building trades leaders, some construction employer groups say project labor agreements inhibit fair and open competition, particularly when nonunion contractors are required to adhere to agreement terms to take part in a project. Those supporting project labor agreements say they are the best way to ensure workers receive fair wages and benefits while also providing contractors with skilled labor.
