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July 21, 2008

Labor chiefs: Hire local for jobs here

Want IDA to require prevailing wages on construction contracts

By DAN HEATH

PLATTSBURGH -- Local labor leaders want local contractors to build projects that receive incentives through the County of Clinton Industrial Development Agency.

Several local labor leaders who recently met with the Press-Republican Editorial Board also would like to see the IDA require the construction jobs pay prevailing (union) wages.

Tom Millea of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 910 said IDA's were created to benefit the people of the area they cover.

Industrial Development Agencies were created through Article 18-A of New York General Municipal Law, titled The New York State Industrial Development Agency Act.

Section 858 of that act partially reads that IDAs should attract or retain industrial, manufacturing, warehousing, commercial, research and recreation facilities to "thereby advance the job opportunities, health, general prosperity and economic welfare of the people of the state of New York and to improve their recreation opportunities, prosperity and standard of living."

That should not only include the jobs when the facility is operational, but also those who are involved in its construction, Millea said.

"We feel that's not being done on several jobs, going back to Falcon Seaboard," he said.

Construction of the co-generation plant in 1993 involved about 500 non-local workers, Millea said.

Plattsburgh-Saranac Lake Building and Construction Trades Council President John Donoghue Jr. said there are a number of local construction projects contracts where work went to out-of-area contractors, including Target, Aldi, CVPH and Hampton Inn and Suites.

Patty Bentley, a member of the Executive Board of the Plattsburgh State University United University Professors and the New York State United Teachers, said IDAs could write requests for proposals that require most of the work be done with local labor. Millea said that is encouraged but not required, which is one of the reasons he is in favor of the IDA reform legislation that was not acted on in the last State Legislature session.

Harold Brohinsky, a retired small business owner, father and grandfather, said using prevailing wage labor tends to raise the standard of living in the community, which allows his children and grandchildren to stay in this area.

Brohinsky said the state is not likely to lose jobs by requiring prevailing wage, especially in this region.

"I believe Clinton County has special advantages to offer Canadian companies," he said.

That includes proximity to the border and access to multiple modes of transportation.

"That's what the IDAs should be selling," Brohinsky said.

During a separate editorial board meeting, New York Department of Labor Commissioner M. Patricia Smith said contractors who pay prevailing wage are more likely to get experienced workers who complete a job more efficiently.

According to the New York Department of Labor Web site, www.labor.state.ny.us, prevailing wage is usually required for private workers engaged in construction, repair or renovation of state or local government facilities. Smith said she has 20 years of prevailing wage enforcement experience, from time she worked in the Attorney General's Office in the Bureau of Labor.

She said in her experience, a contractor who pays prevailing wage is more likely to use local labor. Use of local labor is more difficult to require legally, Smith said, but when it is made a hiring goal it tends to stand up in court.

Winning Construction Jobs for Local Residents, a report by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, details the many benefits of using high-road contractors. They include superior workmanship, higher wages, good benefits, career training, high productivity, good community and labor relations and reduced environmental impact.

Smith said Community Benefits Agreements have been used to great effect in California. The agreement outlines a range of community benefits the developer will provide, such as local labor and prevailing wages, in exchange for government subsidies.

Smith said studies show those agreements have by and large not resulted in lost projects.

"I think the areas that have implemented them (wage standards) are pleased with them," she said.

Donoghue said unions do a lot to raise the standard of living in the community, including apprenticeship and other training programs. Still, they sometimes get a bad rap.

"When they mention the word union, it's almost like it's a bad word," he said.

The contractors who submit the winning bid might match the union wages but often don't provide their workforce comparable benefits, Donoghue said. Medical care and other costs then fall to the taxpayers, he said.

dheath@pressrepublican.com

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