Eli Perry on construction career pathway from incarceration

Good afternoon.

My name is Eli Perry.

I am a proud union construction worker.

I was incarcerated for eight years.

And after coming home, I spent three years living in a shelter.

I needed someone to give me a real opportunity.

I found that opportunity through Pathways to Apprenticeship,

and Local 79.

Construction gave me a job.

It gave me a career, stability, benefits, and a future.

That's why I'm here today.

The mayor has an ambition plan to build housing across the city.

That means thousands of construction jobs and a huge opportunity to move New Yorkers out of poverty.

But right now, too many affordable housing projects rely on labor brokers that hire workers at low wages with little to no benefits and no real pathway to a career.

And the workers they recruit are often people who need opportunity the most.

People coming home from incarceration, immigrants, and New Yorkers struggling to support their families.

I could have easily been one of those workers.

We cannot spend public dollars to build affordable housing while allowing the workers building it to remain trapped in poverty.

The mayor's housing plan gives us an opportunity to do something different, build affordable housing and build the middle class at the same time.

Give workers the same opportunity that changed my life.

Good wages, benefits, training, and a real career.

If we do that, we won't just change the skyline.

We'll change people's lives.

Thank you.

All right, the hearing is over.

No, I'm kidding.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for your testimony.

Your stories are really inspiring, and I hope to bring this back to my neighborhood, too, so that we can expand these opportunities and not rely so much on these labor brokers.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

Speaking of my neighborhood.

We're going to move to a couple of panels from our Bronx.

The first folks up, speaking of my neighborhood, Joshua Santiago, Maria Lorenzo, Stephanie Thomas, and Todd Baker.

Richard Tanco.

Tanco.

Oh, not here either?

Oh.

Do we have an empty chair?

Joshua Santiago, Maria Lorenzo, Stephanie Thomas, Todd Baker, Richard Danko.

Okay.

Ed Garcia.

All right.