Keeping jobs in Asbury
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 05/29/07
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Metro Homes, which is building the Esperanza high-rise on the Asbury
Park beachfront, is helping the city's redeveloper meet its pledge to
hire as many city residents as possible for construction jobs. Many of
the 50 to 60 workers have been screened by the city's nonprofit job
training agency and are gaining valuable experience, and income,
working on the condominium project.
The hiring system employed by Metro Homes for the project is working
the way the city had envisioned. But area labor unions and Rep. Frank
Pallone Jr., D-N.J., have their own agendas. Even though union members
have worked on other phases of the project, they are upset Metro Homes
is not paying the nonunion workers the prevailing wage the hourly
wage plus contributing to the worker's pension and benefit package.
As usual, it's all about money. One organizer said a first-year
apprentice in his dockbuilders, pile drivers and foundation workers
union would be paid $14.10 an hour, plus $22 an hour in pension and
benefits. He said the nonunion workers on the Esperanza were getting
$18 an hour.
"If we don't take a stand now, we are going to see the continued
deterioration of who works on these sites," Pallone said at a protest
at the Esperanza last week.
The critics are failing to look at the big picture: allowing qualified
Asbury Park residents to benefit from the city's revitalization and
gain experience in the construction trades. It is vital for the city's
economic health that its residents find good jobs.
Metro Homes is reaching out to city residents, through the Asbury
Works job training program, in accordance with its commitment to the
redevelopers and the city. Only a small number of city residents are
construction trades union members. The unions should develop their own
outreach to bring more residents into their fold and provide the
training they need to advance.
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