Report Urges Nonunion Labor Use

The New York Sun reports:

The use of nonunion labor for the construction of "affordable" housing could serve as a remedy to the skyrocketing construction costs that are slowing development in New York City, the Manhattan Institute says.

In a 40-page report examining the reasons for soaring construction costs, which have been rising 10% annually, the think tank says efforts by construction unions to impose a "prevailing wage" at affordable housing construction sites result in "further costs by requiring developers to prove that they are in compliance with the law."

The president of the Building Trades Employers' Association, Louis Colletti, called the report's recommendation of nonunion labor "absurd."

"If you want to continue to build substandard housing in terms of quality and safety, then continue to use nonunion companies," he said.

The president of the New York Building Congress, Richard Anderson, said that because of the limited construction budgets for affordable housing, the use of nonunion labor is often the only feasible solution.

Still, he added, "This is a valid area of investigation, but I would not support this recommendation."

A global construction boom, soaring costs of land, labor, steel, and concrete, among other materials, and an increasingly Byzantine city permit process have made construction in New York City more expensive than in other American metropolitan areas, the report says. Constructing a square foot of office space in New York costs $400, it says, more than double the cost in Chicago and Atlanta, where it is $189 and $154, respectively.

You'll want to read the whole thing.We know it's difficult for some people to understand in New York,but buildings can be built without unions.