Nycha Project Labor Agreement
When implementing a design construction system, Governor Cuomo simply cannot link this to a project employment contract to appease his politically connected friends. The construction industry knows only too well what these agreements do for both the quality of the work and the costs, and the reality is that these negative consequences would negate any positive outcome of the design itself. The use of LTOs virtually eliminates competition for unions and ensures that their contractors win the job. Certainly, increased competition would lead to more projects, as it would lead to a decrease in bids. The mayor also announced that he would propose a new bill within the state legislature to establish an Office of Community Union and Workforce Development. The office would develop new programs to connect NYCHA residents, veterans, people with disabilities, people with criminal records, immigrants and recipients of financial assistance to contractors and other businesses working on all types of urban projects, not just construction projects. The bill would also establish a minimum ratio between apprentices and regular workers on urban construction sites. Those who prefer organized work will argue that THE AEPs are a cost-saving measure. That is simply not true. They will refer to pre-construction studies using an outdated work model, which was created to show that the PLA will save money.
However, the outdated model does not take into account the massive changes that have taken place in the construction sector in recent decades. Let us also remember that New York does not need a post-PLA study to see if the so-called savings have been realized. The reason is simple. Work savings never happen – and their supporters don`t want you to know that. If the city were to implement Scissura`s Strategy, it is essential that projects are not subject to the use of a project work contract. A PLA is a pre-lease agreement with labour organizations that requires the workforce to come from the local hiring room. Taxpayer waste was indicative of the old NYCHA. Today, we stand for transparency as the best form of control and accountability of taxpayers` money.
NYCHA now publishes work and performance metrics, contracts and rewards on our website and has even released an interactive Sandy Transparency map, on which the public can access spending data and updates on the state of work related to the $3 billion in funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. This digital tool provides information on the scope of the work, the phase of the project (design, design and design), funding levels and schedules, renderings and details of contractors. The agreement also provides for construction unions to deliver apprentices to contractors, urban projects with the maximum number of apprentices admitted to sites under national labour law. A new declaration of intent will also impose a number of apprenticeship spaces for residents of low-income municipalities and NYCHA housing. In itself, this is a positive step forward that the state should not hesitate to enter into force. I have repeatedly supported such a system because it would streamline the process by which critical repairs are made at NYCHA. But there is a catch: it will probably be accompanied by a project employment contract (PLA) that would mitigate any gain. But wasted spending doesn`t stop there. NYCHA is a follow-up to project Labor Agreements (PLA) in all of its rehabilitation and construction projects. These costly provisions require a large majority of workers to come from union premises, the effect of reducing the number of job applicants and reducing competition.
