In a potential setback for construction unions who are
benefiting from Jersey City's residential housing building boom, a federal
court yesterday sided with a trade association's challenge of a
city law that requires developers seeking certain tax breaks to
hire union and local laborers.
The decision by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
reverses a lower court's ruling and allows the trade association's lawsuit
to move forward. The group alleges the city's law requiring union labor on
large-scale tax-abated projects violates multiple federal laws, including the
National Labor Relations Act.
Attorney Russell J. McEwan, who represents the
plaintiffs, which include the New Jersey chapter of Associated Builders and
Contractors, hailed the ruling and said he feels confident his side will
prevail in the end.
Jersey City's project labor agreements law — which also
requires developers seeking tax breaks to hire a certain percentage of city
residents as apprentices — shuts out non-union construction workers and
non-locals, McEwan told The Jersey Journal.
"We think competition is a good thing," he
said. "We think it's good for taxpayers. We think it's good for Jersey
City."
City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill declined to comment.
The Hudson County Building and Construction Trades Council, a union group,
intervened in the lawsuit as a defendant. Its president, Patrick Kelleher, did
not immediately return a request for comment.
The three towers will house a total of 2,466 luxury
units.
The lower court ruled in the city's favor, saying the
federal laws cited by the plaintiffs do not apply because the city was imposing
PLAs in its capacity as a market participant, not a regulator. Monday's ruling
reverses that decision, saying the city was indeed acting as a regulator, and
sent the case back to the lower court.
Source: NJ.com
No comments:
Post a Comment