ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo told a building trades conference in Washington Tuesday that organized labor will have veto power over any deal to revive the dormant 421-a tax abatement program.
“I will stand shoulder to shoulder with organized labor,” Cuomo said, drawing applause, at the North America’s Building Trades Union meeting.
“I will not sign a bill that is not accepted as a fair deal by organized labor and the building trades.”
The tax abatement deal expired after unions and developers couldn’t come to terms on requiring prevailing wages — meaning union wages — on affordable housing projects.
Brian Sampson, president of the Associated Buildings and Contractors’ Empire State Chapter, representing over 400 contractors, slammed Cuomo’s remarks.
“Gov. Cuomo’s blind loyalty to big union bosses is irresponsible and it’s killing affordable housing and good jobs,” he told The Post. “We are shocked to see the governor fight for $200,000 salaries for union carpenters while ignoring the low- and middle-income New Yorkers who need affordable housing under 421-a.”
The average annual pay for carpenters in the New York-New Jersey Metro Area is about $90,000.
But with prevailing wages, carpenters can expect to earn about $195,000 a year, according to industry figures.
Jamie McShane, spokesman for the Real Estate Board of New York, said the governor’s insistence on prevailing wages would hurt those he’s trying to help.
“421-a has accounted for a significant share of the city’s recent affordable housing production, particularly in those ares of the city where it is most difficult to build below-market rental housing,” he said. “Attaching a construction prevailing wage to the program will dramatically increase the cost of the program and result in less rental housing.”