A battle over construction jobs is building in Erie County with lawmakers being pulled in opposite directions by union leaders and the county executive. The battle is over a proposal that would help get some not-for-profit construction projects going by providing tax exempt bond financing. These construction projects would create jobs and while everyone is in favor of more jobs for the region, not everyone is on board with the resolution as it is currently written.
Dozens of union members packed the Erie County Legislature chamber Wednesday afternoon for a committee meeting on the tax-exempt bond financing issue. The construction projects the financing would help include a new parking ramp at the Buffalo-Niagara medical campus and several private school construction projects. Union leaders are concerned the proposal as it's been presented by Erie County Executive Chris Collins would leave them shut out of the construction work. "Big business is what wants this through. To not have labor at the table is a sin and a crime and the right thing to do is what this legislature is doing," says Sam Capitano of Laborers Local 210 addressing the Legislature's economic development committee.
Others say adding union protections to the resolution would add up to 30 percent to the costs of the projects resulting in the projects never even getting started. "The phrase was used 'the taxpayer money needs to be used to create quality jobs'. Again quality jobs verses no jobs at all which is what we've opted for and what attaching the prevailing wage to this legislation would also do," says Craig Turner of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership.
County Executive Collins turned up the heat on legislators this week by accusing some of them of being afraid to pass the measure without added union protections because they'd then risk losing union support during an election year. He thinks public pressure may cause legislators to re-think their positions. "A lot of calls from constituents to them (legislators) may move this forward as we hoped it would have a week ago, so cautiously optimistic would express my feeling right now," says Collins.
"You're asking this legislature to put our stamp of approval on an item as important as this to the taxpayers, then we are going to insure that the taxpayers, the working men and women of this community are protected," says Erie County Legislator Tim Kennedy, the chairman of the economic development committee.
Lawmakers will next take up the issue in a special session on Friday.
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