Building service workers employed at private developments receiving at least $1 million for new construction or preservation will now be paid a prevailing wage thanks to a bill that passed in the city council Thursday.
City Council Member Rafael Espinal Jr. (D-Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, Bushwick, Crown Heights, Cypress Hills, East New York) sponsored the measure, No. 1321, which expands the prevailing wage law for building service employees at city development projects. It also removes the current exemption in the existing “Prevailing Wage Law” (Local Law 27 of 2012) for affordable housing projects and not-for-profit developers of residential projects.
This bill exempts smaller residential projects with fewer than 120 units, certain supportive housing projects, deeply affordable preservation projects and NYCHA projects financed through the federal Rental Assistance Demonstration program.
“As our city becomes a more expensive place to live, we have to be pushing for laws that close its wealth gap. I introduced Intro 1321 because it is the standard we set during the East New York Neighborhood Plan. Of the 100% affordable housing that is being built, each building is now going to provide prevailing wages to its staff. If we did it in East New York, we can do it citywide,” said Espinal.
“The city is facing a housing crisis that has to be addressed not just by looking at how much affordable housing is available, but by examining what kind of jobs are available as well. There’s no inherent contradiction between saying we know workers should be paid more, and we know we need more affordable and supportive housing,” he added.
Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ has been pushing this bill for a number of years, trying to improve the compensation for building service workers throughout the five boroughs. With 175,000 members in 11 states, including 85,000 in New York, 32BJ SEIU is the largest property service workers union in the country.
The union held a rally with several elected officials in tow before the council vote.
“This is an important victory for working families and their communities across the city,” said Kyle Bragg, president of 32BJ SEIU, the building service workers’ union. “We’ve proved that New York that creates more affordable housing while ensuring that workers are paid the wages and benefits they need to be able to afford to live in our city. My brother, former 32BJ President Hector Figueroa, started the push for this bill before his death and I am beyond proud to have led the push to seal the deal and add it to his legacy of support for working people in our city.”
“I will always stand with working-class New Yorkers. Sadly, too many of them work very hard for low wages, wages that are insufficient to raise a family, to put food on the table, to pay bills. This is not the New York we want,” said City Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D-Manhattan). “Some people need to have two or three jobs just to survive, to make ends meet. It is only right that is developers receive financial assistance to build affordable housing units, building service workers should receive a prevailing wage. Workers deserve a fair wage.”
