The New York State AFL-CIO’s executive council on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution backing the prevailing wage’s use in all 421a projects.
The resolution comes, however, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo this week said it was unlikely the abatement, due to expire in the coming days, will be changed in any meaningful way.
Cuomo has been sympathetic to the AFL-CIO’s concerns raised over the provision, but did not take an official stance himself on how he would like the abatement changed.
“Today’s vote by our Executive Council sends a powerful message,” said Mario Cilento, President of the New York State AFL-CIO. “The labor movement is speaking with one very clear voice that there must be a return on the taxpayer’s investment, and in this case that return for giving developers more than $1 billion a year in tax breaks needs to be the creation of good jobs.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s own abatement proposal put him crossways with the union.
The mayor sought an expansion of affordable housing under an abatement renewal and did not include a prevailing wage component, but for service workers.