Do Union Demands Stymie Affordable Housing?
A right-wing think tank has issued a big report that, according to the Sun, says affordable housing construction would be sped up by the use of nonunion labor. The Manhattan Institute is—not surprisingly—arguing that soaring construction costs are slowing development, and a big part of that slowdown is caused by unions that demand a prevailing…
A right-wing think tank has issued a big report that, according to the Sun, says affordable housing construction would be sped up by the use of nonunion labor. The Manhattan Institute is—not surprisingly—arguing that soaring construction costs are slowing development, and a big part of that slowdown is caused by unions that demand a prevailing wage for their workers. Also not surprisingly, not everyone agrees with the report’s findings. “This is a valid area of investigation, but I would not support this recommendation,” says Richard Anderson, the president of the New York Building Congress. And Louis Colletti, president of the Building Trades Employers’ Association, said the recommendation was “absurd” and the use of nonunion labor results in “substandard housing in terms of quality and safety.” Of course, some affordable housing developers in Brooklyn, like the Fifth Avenue Committee, acknowledge that it’s very difficult for them to use union labor because of its higher costs, and the rapidly rising Toren is basically a textbook example of how quickly you can build when you leave unions behind. (The skyscraper has 42 affordable units.) Where do you stand on the issue?
Report Urges Nonunion Labor Use [NY Sun]
Photo by arecee.
“10:28. And corporations and non-union companies try to get as much work out of their employees for as little pay as possible. Of course unions try to get the most money for the least work. Any employee with an ounce of intelligence does the same thing. You haven’t figured this out yet?”
The difference is the private sector is forced to compete for the best workers, pay competive wages and attract talent. Unions use lobby and pay-off money (Forceably taken in the form of “Dues”)to make the system work for them and extort concessions out of anyone unlucky enough to be at their mercy.
10:28. And corporations and non-union companies try to get as much work out of their employees for as little pay as possible. Of course unions try to get the most money for the least work. Any employee with an ounce of intelligence does the same thing. You haven’t figured this out yet?
johnife- agreed!
manhattan institute also says :”They look at market-oriented solutions to public policy issues rather than just saying the government needs to hand out a bunch of money to solve things.
sounds like a political agenda to me. You would think 8 years of doing it their way would make any other normal, intelligent human being think, gee….maybe I need to rethink a few things. 8 years of proving strict conservatism doesn’t work and still the typical response is 10:22’s “socialist “humanitarian” s-bag.” All that shows is 10:22 is totally ignorant of labor history and how unions came about.
Don’t know about the rest of you but I think its damn scary when someone thinks “humanitarian” is an insult.
10:14 Yes, by all means let’s get rid of the municipal unions. Then every November, after every election, whoever wins can shitcan all the workers that aren’t a member of his party and replace them with with his idiot brother-in-law and other party hacks.
Hal – I agree with our points but you ignore the fact that many Unions exploit their own members – with excessive fees that pay for lavish lifestyles of Union management along with lousy representation and services (such as healthcare)
Unions are nothing but thugs. Cry me a river if you’re over 35 and have zero marketability in the workforce. Now that you pissed your life away, didn’t finish school, didn’t take your early jobs seriously by telling the manager off or getting in fights and now your approaching 40 and have several kids to support.
It’s your fault for wasting your years and now you want to make more money than you deserve by extorting owners and the public officials.
If you wanted an affordable living wages without having to work 6 days a week then you should have done something about during your earlier years. And, the I can’t afford college is a cop-out. If you’re smart enough with the grades then you can get a loan.
Unions are the new, new mafia. They should be burned.
unions suck. they are ruining this country.
Remeber the MTA unions demands for the “unborn?” What a f^%$n joke that was. Caving in to those demands put us where we are today.
Most commenters seem to have little discernment for varitions. As in: unions are either good or bad.
I’m a liberal democrat, and I do beleive that the fundamental reasons for labor unions, to protect the rights of workers from unscrupulous employers, is a good thing.
But there is no question that some labor unions have indeed taken advantage of their leverage in one industry or another to extort emloyers, consumers, or both.
I think you want to look at case by case examples and determine which unions benefit their workers and the society at large, and which unions are corrupt and extortionist.
They’re both out there.