For Immediate Release
UNION, COMMUNITY, AND CLERGY ADVOCATES RALLY AT CITY HALL FOR PASSAGE OF CONSTRUCTION JUSTICE ACT, DEMAND END TO WORKER EXPLOITATION ON CITY-FUNDED PROJECTS
Broad Coalition Includes LIUNA, DC37, 32BJ and Citywide Community & Clergy Groups
NEW YORK, NY (October 29, 2025) – A coalition of labor activists, construction workers, community, and faith leaders rallied today on the steps of City Hall calling for the Construction Justice Act (Intro. 910), to be brought for a Council vote, passed, and signed into law. The landmark bipartisan bill, sponsored by Bronx Council Member Carmen De La Rosa, would set a $40-per hour compensation standard for workers on city-funded affordable housing projects. Of that $40-per-hour compensation standard, a minimum of $25 would be dedicated to wages, with the balance able to be used for wages, healthcare, or other benefits.
"This bipartisan bill directly addresses the affordability crisis that has left many workers building our housing without housing of their own. A $40 wage and benefit floor lifts tides for all workers and ensures that those building our renowned skyline can afford to live in it," said Council Member Carmen De La Rosa, Chair of the Committee on Civil Service and Labor. "The Construction Justice Act is a pro-worker, pro-community legislative solution with a community hiring aspect that brings city subsidies to the hands that need them the most, often exploited workers like immigrants, women, justice-affected persons, and Black and Latino communities. We must pass the Construction Justice Act and bring dignity back to one of our deadliest and most exploitative industries."
"Critics of the Construction Justice Act keep citing that the provisions of the bill make it too expensive, but HPD has testified that it has no true record or standard regulating how construction workers building City-funded affordable housing are compensated," said Dave Bolger, Business Manager of Mason Tenders District Council. "What that means is some workers already come close to the protections of the bill, while some are paid minimum wage, with no benefits, and sent home and told not to file workers comp if they are injured on the job. By passing the Construction Justice Act, and signing it into law, New York City would reaffirm its commitment to ensuring workers have the wages they need to live in the city they are working so hard to build."
"Workers, community, and clergy from all over New York City showed up today to show their support for lifting the living standard for all workers," said Anthony Vita, Business Manager of Laborers Local 79. "While we wholeheartedly believe in the union difference, this bill is about making sure that every construction worker is able to live with dignity in a city that is becoming increasingly unaffordable for so many. The bill has the support. It’s time to stand up and pass the Construction Justice Act."
Speakers included Donald Nesbitt, DC37 & Local 372 AFSCME Vice President, Bishop Mitchell Gordon Taylor, Sr., Senior Pastor of Center of Hope International & Co-founder and President of Urban Upbound, Sandra Lobo, Executive Director of the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition, and construction workers like Alvaro Gonzales.
"The just treatment and fair compensation of workers is a moral issue," said Bishop Mitchell G. Taylor, Senior Pastor of the Center of Hope International in Queens and co-founder and CEO of Urban Upbound. "What does it say about us as a city when our tax dollars subsidize housing construction built by workers who cannot afford to live in the very homes they build? The Construction Justice Act would help right this wrong by establishing a standard of fair compensation—ensuring that the workers building our city can live here and raise their families with dignity."
"When I worked for a non-union affordable housing renovation contractor, my appendix burst and I had to go to the hospital for emergency surgery. Because I didn’t have health insurance, I ended up with almost $30,000 in hospital debt," said Alvaro Gonzales, who is now a member of Laborers Local 79. "I have supported the city council raising wages for fast food workers, delivery workers and building service workers. It’s time to do the same for construction workers who build and preserve city-financed affordable housing."
"Everyone is talking about New York’s affordability crisis and how working people can hardly afford the basic essentials like buying food or paying their rent. Yet, when some of the most exploited workers in the industry ask for basic dignity, we hear that it just can’t be done," said Sandra Lobo, Executive Director of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition. "I thank Council Member De La Rosa for sponsoring the Construction Justice Act, Local 79 for their leadership, and everyone who believes that development should not be built by exploiting our workers."
The bill has bipartisan support and enough votes to pass. The call now is for it to be placed on the agenda for a vote.
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