De Blasio administration, construction unions to discuss subsidy reform

After construction unions did not see concessions in New York City’s rezoning plan or City Hall’s pitch for reforming the 421-a tax abatement, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration plans to meet with union leaders to discuss labor standards and public subsidies.

De Blasio spokesman Austin Finan said City Hall will convene stakeholders in “the coming days” to start the conversation.

“We agree it’s imperative to maximize every tool we have to drive more equitable growth and create real opportunity for our neighborhoods,” Finan said in a statement. “We’re approaching these discussions about labor standards, public subsidies, and transparency in good faith, and we look forward to meaningful discussions with our partners in communities and in organized labor.”

Last spring, de Blasio released a proposal to amend the 421-a tax abatement used by developers to build market-rate residences that include some affordable housing units, but it did not include the prevailing wages sought by unions. De Blasio’s administration has said the pay mandate would have limited the amount of affordable housing created under the benefit. His tweaks stalled in Albany, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave the Real Estate Board of New York and construction unions six months to reach a deal on the tax break. They missed the deadline.

Then the unions seized on zoning proposals working their way through the land use review process in New York City. The Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York and the Greater New York Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust, a labor management fund advocating for unions and contractors that work with them, pushed de Blasio to include local hiring provisions and require state-approved apprenticeship programs on housing projects as part of two major rezoning proposals. The City Council announced a slew of changes to the zoning text, but did not explicitly mandate local hiring or the state training programs. After arguing labor standards could not legally be written into zoning text, de Blasio’s team agreed to conduct a feasibility study that examines the union’s requests and ways to spur the creation of affordable housing for lower income families than targeted in the zoning text.

Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, said public subsidies should come with responsibilities.

“We need to build quality affordable housing at safe sites while paying middle class wages to construction workers – both union and nonunion alike,” LaBarbera said in a statement. “The New York City Building and Construction Trades Council will negotiate in good faith with any party which knows the value of advancing these principles because it serves the public interest.”

Pat Purcell, executive director of Greater New York LECET, also described subsidy reform as “critical.”

“Our greatest responsibility is to protect the lives of construction workers both union and nonunion alike,” Purcell said in a statement. “We look forward to working with stakeholders to ensure projects that receive public subsidies include rigorous safety standards, require state sanctioned apprenticeship and training programs, as well as pay construction workers a middle class wage.”