NEW YORK — A Community Hiring plan established by New York City hopes to drive the economic recovery of New Yorkers living in low-income neighborhoods, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday.
This plan would provide an estimated 1,300 construction jobs for every $1 billion in construction for low-income communities leading to an estimated $1 billion in wages and benefits for target communities during the first full year of the program.
Community Hiring addresses the economic disparities among New Yorkers by connecting them with good jobs and apprenticeship opportunities.
“When you think about quality jobs and you think about a living wage, when you think about a long-term career for working people, it all comes back to one thing: labor unions,” the mayor said.
“There is nothing more powerful than someone getting a union job that they can turn a career into.”
“For years, New York’s union building trades have prioritized expanding access, equity, and opportunity in neighborhoods across the city. We look forward to building on that commitment and working directly with the administration to ensure that all New Yorkers — especially those in underserved communities — have access not only to our exceptional union apprenticeship and direct-entry programs, but also to the tens of thousands of middle-class careers that this agreement will create. Only through investing in our city’s greatest asset, our working men and women, will we fuel New York’s economic recovery,” Gary LaBarbera, President of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York said.
Not only does the partnership help high-need neighborhoods, it also helps minority and women-owned businesses.
Under the plan, there will be more of an investment in communities of color, the mayor said.
As part of the agreement:
- Unions will prioritize the referral of workers from zip codes where at least 15% of the population lives below the federal poverty level and/or are NYCHA residents, aiming to reach an overall goal that at least 30 percent of all hours worked under PLA projects are logged by workers from these zip codes.
- Unions will provide contractors with apprentices on City construction projects up to the maximum number allowed by the New York State Department of Labor when contractors request apprentices. An apprenticeship Memorandum of Understanding establishes, for the first time, specific annual goals for the number of slots provided for both apprentices and pre-apprentices for residents of disadvantaged communities and NYCHA housing.
- This PLA increases opportunities and adds flexibility for MWBEs, allowing their workforce to gain valuable experience on city projects and build their companies, while continuing to source from within communities.
