No more giant inflatable rats, as Asbury Park will hire union labor for future projects

ASBURY PARK - Going forward, any city projects that cost $5 million or more will use union labor and/or hire mostly local residents at a union rate, six months after the city was criticized for awarding an $18 million job to a nonunion contractor to build the new fire department headquarters.

In April, despite concerns about the contractor, the City Council voted 3-2 to award an $18 million contract to Wallace Bros. Inc. to build the new fire department headquarters on Memorial Drive to replace its current Main Street location. In the months that followed, union supporters often demonstrated with a giant inflatable rat outside City Hall in protest.

Union rats are a sign of opposition against employers or nonunion contractors and are intended to call public attention to the employment of nonunion labor.

On Wednesday evening, local union members from sheet metal workers, plumbers and pipefitters, carpenters, laborers, ironworkers, tile setters and electricians packed the council chamber.

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The City Council unanimously voted to authorize what is called a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with local labor unions at the meeting. The pre-hire collective bargaining agreement will be used on a project-by-project basis.

Thomas De Bartolo, president of the Monmouth and Ocean Counties Buildings and Construction Trades Council, told the Asbury Park Press that this agreement "puts local residents to work."

"There are a lot of trade unions that have residents that live in Asbury Park and the idea behind the (agreement) is to hire local residents that are members of our apprenticeship program," De Bartolo said.

Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn said the council added stipulations "to ensure that local residents benefit from both the apprenticeship program and some free training for it, and they can be hired."

"Any project over $5 million will have a PLA for union workers, but in certain circumstances they can hire local residents for labor," Quinn said.

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With the agreement, the bid specifications for eligible construction projects will require the general contractor that is awarded the contract to employ Asbury Park residents on the project. When eligible, it will require that each contractor performing work on the project will train and mentor city residents, and recruit local Asbury Park residents into the apprenticeship programs, according to the resolution.

De Bartolo said the agreement ensures "that there will be no work stoppages or slowdowns."

"It weeds out all the bad players, such as bad contractors, because they know they have to abide by this and there is a stipulation in the PLA that says a union contractor or a nonunion contractor can bid the project, but 88% of the workforce has to come from the local hiring halls first, and that helps put local residents to work," De Bartolo said.

He added "that puts the local residents to work and it puts the money back into the economy where they live and pay tax dollars."

"You don't want an out-of-town contractor coming in from Florida or Pennsylvania, taking your money and then (leaving), so it is good for the community," De Bartolo said.

Councilwoman Angela Ahbez-Anderson became interested in these union agreements when she was campaigning in the community last year.

"I noticed that there were many residents who were working but not working within the city, (and) they are part of the building trade," Ahbez-Anderson said.

One resident lived across from a development on Springwood Avenue.

"And I asked him if he had been hired and he said no because they were hiring non-union workers. My husband, Calvin Anderson, is a union member of local #1820 and I know how that has benefited my family," Ahbez-Anderson said.

She added that besides helping with their children's schooling and extracurricular activities, they benefitted from "a pension, job safety, it was just a good way of life."

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"So I thought that this would be instrumental and necessary for those who live to also be able to work in Asbury, especially with all the development that is taking place. So that became a priority for me," Ahbez-Anderson said.

She plans on strategizing with RaShawn Adams, superintendent of the Asbury Park School District, to implement a building trades curriculum into the high school.

"It will be from ninth grade and follow them through their senior year and when they graduate, they will then be apprentice and enter into the apprenticeship program and become journeyman. This is an exciting time and I am delighted," Ahbez-Anderson said.

The agreement applies to projects paid for by the city but isn't retroactive to projects that have already been voted on.

Charles Daye is the metro reporter for Asbury Park and Neptune, with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. @CharlesDayeAPP Contact him: CDaye@gannettnj.com

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Asbury Park NJ will hire union or local labor for future big projects