Mike Jordan (Local 3 IBEW) on project labor agreements and 485X concerns
Jordan urges requiring project labor agreements for affordable housing construction and warns that 485X creates incentives to stay at 99 units to avoid stronger labor requirements. He argues public subsidy should require family-sustaining jobs, not poverty wages.
So thank you for the opportunity to testify.
I am Mike Jordan, a business representative for Local 3, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
I'm here in support of project labor agreements for affordable housing construction and also to urge the city to make sure that 485X does not become a race to the bottom on construction wages and working conditions.
New York City needs housing, there's no question about that.
But the answer cannot be to subsidize housing while subsidizing poverty for the workers who build it.
When taxpayers provide billions of dollars in tax benefits and other public support,
housing construction, we have a responsibility to demand something in return.
Affordable homes, good quality construction, and family-sustaining jobs.
This is exactly why PLAs matter.
A project labor agreement establishes labor standards before construction begins, provides a trained workforce, consistent work rules, safety protections, benefits, and accountability.
It ensures the public investment creates a pathway into the middle class.
We should also be honest about the incentives created by 485X.
When the rules become significantly different at the 100-unit threshold, developers have an incentive to stay at 99 units rather than build more housing and accept stronger labor and affordability requirements.
This is not a housing policy we should encourage.
We should not be creating incentives to build fewer apartments or to reduce labor standards simply to qualify a tax benefit.
If a developer is receiving public subsidy, the public should receive a public benefit.
This means more affordable apartments.
It means construction workers earning wages that allow them to support their family, community hiring,
pathways into apprenticeships and into the middle class, opportunities for New Yorkers who want to enter the trades, and then, of course, safe, quality construction that will serve our communities for generations.
We cannot pit affordable housing against good jobs.
The workers building affordable housing deserve to be able to afford housing themselves.
Thank you.