Posted Jun 1, 2012, 7:54 PM
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New Yorker for life
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 51,917
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http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...IONS/305279975
Ironworkers bend on wages
By Daniel Massey
May 27, 2012
Quote:
The ironworkers' union—desperate to regain market share from surging nonunion construction, and afraid of missing out on lucrative work at Hudson Yards and the Tappan Zee Bridge—has agreed to an unprecedented wage and benefit rollback. It's already shaking up development in the city.
The unusual decision to amend their existing contracts across the board comes as the ironworkers face the possibility that the Tappan Zee Bridge could be rebuilt without them—with steel fabricated offsite to save the state money—and as the heavyweight real estate developer Related Cos. aggressively seeks cost savings to jump-start its massive Hudson Yards project on the West Side.
Shortly after Local 46 members approved the rollback, Related said it might build luxury-goods maker Coach's new Hudson Yards headquarters with reinforced concrete instead of steel, a rarity for a commercial building in the city. That would create jobs for Local 46 members who bend the steel rods that reinforce concrete. (Other ironworkers locals handle traditional steel construction.) Related declined to comment.
Residential buildings in the city are routinely built with reinforced concrete, as are commercial ones across the country and around the world. It's less expensive than steel, and technology improvements mean quality isn't sacrificed, though controls need to be greater. In New York, where construction methods are entrenched, steel has ruled in commercial buildings. The most significant exception is 505 Fifth Ave., which the Kipp-Stawski Group built using concrete.
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