For Immediate Release
UFT: Educators' housing project must be union-made
Dec 3, 2007 6:45 PM
On Nov. 28, the UFT learned that the agreement between the city’s Housing Development Corporation and Atlantic Development Corp. to build two residential buildings for educators in the Bronx does not guarantee prevailing wage for the construction workers.
After a bumpy few days, the UFT is working with construction trade unions to ensure that an affordable work force housing development for educators gets built by union workers.
UFT President Randi Weingarten has threatened to walk away from the project unless it’s union-made. “We’re going to do everything we can to pressure the developer to do right by its workers,” said UFT President Randi Weingarten.
On Dec. 4, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn joined Weingarten and other union officials as they picketed outside the construction site in the Bronx to demand that the developer pay prevailing wages.
Statement by UFT President Randi Weingarten on Workforce Housing Program for Educators:
In October, the UFT was pleased to participate in the announcement of a workforce housing initiative for teachers. The union has been working on affordable housing initiatives since 2005, and the goal of this project was to help address the prohibitive housing costs in New York City that make living here unaffordable for teachers and too many middle-class New Yorkers.
From our perspective, development of this project rests on three pillars:
- The creation of housing that would be affordable to educators.
- From a fiduciary standpoint, the investment has to be financially sound.
- Construction labor costs had to be based on prevailing wage.
The way the project was shaped, the Teachers’ Retirement System would purchase $28.2 million 2007 Series D bonds issued by the New York City Housing Development Corporation bearing a market rate of interest to finance the construction and permanent mortgage loans for two residential buildings in the Melrose section of the Bronx that will contain 234 residential units.
Although we have been enthusiastic cheerleaders for the project, neither the UFT nor the TRS is party to its construction.
On Wednesday, November 28, I learned that one of these pillars was violated: the agreement between HDC and the developer does not guarantee prevailing wage.
Since then, we have worked diligently to try to resolve this issue, including asking HDC to renegotiate the contract with Atlantic Development Corp. To date, our efforts have not been successful.
As a result, we stand today with our brother and sister unions and ask TRS to sell the bonds and, in essence, walk away from this deal. Affordable workforce housing for teachers – and indeed, for all workers in New York City – is vitally important, but we cannot support an initiative that does not respect or support union workers.
We have kept the Building Trades and the Central Labor Council fully informed of all that is transpiring, and asked them to join our picket at the job site on Dec. 4 at 488 East 163rd Street in the Bronx.
