Newsom signs law prompted by Berkeley housing projects that dodged labor standards

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

By Berkeleyside

Two Berkeley housing projects that used a powerful state program to exempt themselves from local labor mandates have inspired a new law barring future developments from following their playbook.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed a bill from state Sen. Jesse Arreguín requiring that large developments comply with local labor standards — such as the Berkeley ordinance Arreguín championed as mayor that mandates builders of major projects provide apprenticeship programs and health care coverage to workers.

The ordinance, which went into effect in 2024, was backed by unions in the building trades who argued it would provide job training to boost the construction workforce and ensure workers who do dangerous jobs have coverage if they are injured. Developers opposed it, saying the mandates add millions of dollars in new costs and can make projects too expensive to build.

The companies Laconia Development and Collab Home asserted they could exempt their projects — a 23-story development at 2029 University Ave. and a 20-story building at 2425 Durant Ave., respectively — from the labor mandate because of California’s “density bonus” law.

That law lets developers bypass certain local regulations if they include a share of affordable housing in their project. It’s commonly used to let developments exceed physical regulations such as height limits, but the law also allows builders to claim exemptions from other local requirements that might increase their costs. In addition to the health coverage and apprenticeship requirement, Collab Home also used the density bonus to exempt itself from a requirement that major projects in the Southside neighborhood near UC Berkeley pay workers a prevailing wage.

(Read more)

Bay Area Governments Taking Action on Wage Theft (CA)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Other California cities should follow the lead of Berkeley and San Jose on this issue.

By: Cesar Sanchez
August 21, 2019

…

Research has shown that fully one in six of the more than one million workers in California’s construction industry face some form of exploitation. Often, they are immigrants searching for a better life for their families. For unscrupulous employers, such aspirations are too often weaponized both as a recruitment tool and as a means to silence workers who might otherwise speak out against abuse.

Yet workers aren’t the only victims. Construction employers who engage in these crimes are cheating taxpayers out of billions of dollars payroll tax and workers compensation obligations each year.

Most of the time, contractors and subcontractors who engage in these practices don’t get caught or aren’t held accountable. While California law protects all workers – regardless of immigration status – the fact is that efforts to demonize immigrants by some national political leaders has only given malign employers more cover.

…

The City of Berkeley has gone a step further. Under the leadership of Mayor Jesse Arreguin, the city council has strengthened a measure that holds construction businesses accountable for shortchanging their workers or failing to inform them of their rights. The city’s wage transparency ordinance that was updated in June withholds a certificate of occupancy from projects where workers have alleged wage violations, requires construction employers to commit to providing workers with detailed pay stubs outlining wage rates and deductions, and publicly post contact information for state enforcement agencies at each jobsite. Without a certificate of occupancy, cheaters can’t win – their building can’t open, be sold, or start collecting rent.

…

Over the last several decades, construction wage theft has spiked 400 percent. Contractors who are unable to win bids based on construction competence have sought to normalize business practices that steal from taxpayers and their most vulnerable workers. As we commit ourselves to prevent the kind of abuses that happened at Silvery Towers, we must remember the best solution is not to blame or condemn the victims. Instead, it must be to disrupt the corrupt business models that perpetuate these crimes.

…

(Read More)