From DNA Info:A new luxury hotel and condo tower at the gleaming Brooklyn Bridge Park will likely not be built or run by union workers.
The labor organizations representing hotel staffers and construction workers say they have been stonewalled by the developers selected for the controversial Pier 1 complex--Toll Brothers City Living and Starwood Capital Group.
At stake are an estimated 210 permanent jobs and 300 construction jobs at the waterfront park.
Last year, there were seven bids for the project from different developers, according to records. Five of those proposals would likely have included using union workers, union officials said.
Park officials promised to give preference to developers with a good labor history.
At issue is a state law passed in 2009.
The Public Authority Reform Act requires developers on public land sign a "labor peace" agreement, which typically leads to union workers being hired.
Union officials and pols say that law applies to the parks project too.
Brooklyn Bridge officials insist the law doesn’t apply to the park becauseof its unique financing situation.
1 comment:
Good lord.
If this project is receiving even one penny of public incentivization, the SOMEONE needs to understand taxpayers are looking to buy real jobs with real wages, not enhance the developer's profit margin.
Unions are presumably looking to advocate and protect workers - even if workers are narrowly defined as the membership. One thing is certain: when it comes to living wages, our electeds don't seem to care, and the developers surely don't care...
I am SICK of seeing, for example, ICAP-supported projects built by out-of-state contractors, which when completed have absolutely no impact on local employment. Our tax dollars at work - hopping out of our pockets and into the pockets of developers.
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