Last Thursday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced a deal with developers and union construction officials that could bring back a program designed to create affordable housing for everyday New Yorkers. The program, called 421-a, expired in January. After a failed effort to revive it in August, Gov. Cuomo brought the parties back…

  Unions are spearheading a program to rebuild homes and create jobs across the rustbelt. The $2.1 billion effort, largely funded by the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust’s [email protected] Investment Strategy, aims to renovate aging neighborhoods and combat disinvestment and unemployment: “The cycle of despair in the urban centers of…

  Wilmer Cueva, the excavation supervisor overseeing the New York City construction site where a young worker was crushed to death last year, has been charged with criminally negligent homicide. The verdict was handed down Friday, with sentencing scheduled for December 16. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. said companies and…

  Nashville is booming. Davidson County’s unemployment rate is the second lowest in the state at 3.8%. And the Nashville Business Journal recently found that the city’s wealthiest zip codes have grown wealthier over the past three years. Unfortunately, they also found the poorest have grown poorer during the same stretch….

  West Virginia gubernatorial candidate Jim Justice (D) appears to be in a strong position heading into election day. Polling gives Justice a double-digit lead over his chief rival, state Senate president Bill Cole (R). A Repass Research poll shows Justice running at 44% to Cole’s 33%. The Justice campaign released their own poll…

  The City of New York saw yet another construction worker die on the job last week. The Department of Buildings (DOB) issued a stop work order immediately after the accident, which occurred at a Brooklyn hotel site. New York City has experienced a slew of fatal construction accidents of late, prompting local building trades [&hellip…;

  In Indiana, a St. Joseph County Council committee has been grappling with a bill that would give an advantage to local firms bidding on public works projects. After approving the bill 4-2 along party lines, the committee sent the “Responsible Bidder Ordinance” to the full county council for a vote, only to have the [&hellip…;

  Construction workers took to the streets of San Jose late last month to voice their displeasure with Cupertino-based developer KT Urban. Their complaints do not begin and end with KT, however. Union members are frustrated with a growing shift in Silicon Valley toward hiring non-union workers on development projects: Workers say it’s part…

  The Illinois labor community is looking to improve diversity within its ranks through a program called HIRE Education. The Lincoln Land Community College program is a 20-week course that prepares women, people of color, and former convicts for union apprenticeships. Those demographics are traditionally underrepresented in organized labor,…

  When it comes to closing the gender pay gap, California might be as good as it gets in the U.S.. But that doesn’t mean the gap is gone. Governor Brown understands this fight for equality in the workplace is far from over, and recently signed a bill designed to offer women better access to [&hellip…;

  While a federal appeals court continues to meddle in New Jersey’s project labor agreement affairs, the worker-supportive deals a scoring victories elsewhere in the country. In Wisconsin, building trades unions reached agreements on two projects related to the Milwaukee Bucks’ new arena. Agreements were reached with J.P. Cullen…

  Not all deaths are created equal. This holds especially true in the City of New York. Of the 17 construction-related deaths reported last year by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), six went unrecorded by the de Blasio administration. It turns out the Department of Buildings, which regulates construction in the city,…