Building Trades Leaders Are Optimistic Robust Volume Will Sustain Thru 2025
By JOHN JORDAN – September 2024
TARRYTOWN—As the nation enters the final stretch of the Presidential campaign season, jobs are on the minds and lips of everyone. And the jobs that have long backboned the middle class in the Lower Hudson Valley are union construction jobs.
Activity in the construction/building sector in the Hudson Valley region continues to be robust, paralleling national trends. The construction industry’s unemployment rate fell to 3.2%—the lowest August rate in the 25-year history of the data, according to an analysis of new government data by a leading association. (See page 31.) Fueled by project funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the state’s environmental bond act, the region’s building trades are looking forward to maintaining current employment levels.
Added to the current high level of demand, if some of the large projects advance in 2025 as expected, the trades report they’re prepared to expand the ranks of trained labor.
Then there’s the ongoing headwinds: The pause in the congestion pricing program on June 5 by Gov. Kathy Hochul has placed a $15-billion hole in the MTA’s capital program. Reports from Albany indicate that Gov. Hochul is poised to propose a revised/scaled down congestion pricing plan or some other replacement to fill the gap.
In a filing earlier this month, lawyers for the governor argued that the 2019 law that first approved congestion pricing does not require the state to give final sign off for the program. Lawsuits are scheduled to be heard in Manhattan state court on Sept. 27.
Meanwhile, the MTA released details of its next five-year capital plan on Sept. 19.
In addition, the union trades remain frustrated in the lower Hudson Valley with the lack of work coming from major mixed-use development projects in urban centers. They complain that despite securing incentives from Industrial Development Agencies and school districts, developers have been able to build projects with mostly nonunion labor.
CONSTRUCTION NEWS talked with some of the Hudson Valley region’s top leaders in the building trades to determine how the industry will fare for the remainder of 2024 and their outlook for how the project pipeline will be in 2025. They say some of the key growth sectors are: transportation and environmental infrastructure, power utilities and large warehouse projects. All are cautiously optimistic that the benches at union halls throughout the region will largely be empty going forward.
While the construction sector lost jobs for the year ending July 2024, the overall Hudson Valley private sector workforce continued to trend upward, reaching 835,900 in July 2024— its highest jobs count on record.
Private sector job growth was spread throughout the region. Year-over-year, Sullivan County posted the strongest gains, up 4.9%. They were followed by the Kingston Metropolitan Statistical Area (+2.1%), the Orange-Rockland-Westchester labor market area (+1.7%), and the Dutchess-Putnam Metropolitan Division (+0.2%).
The July 2024 unemployment rate for the Hudson Valley Region was 3.9%. That was up from 3.5% in June 2024 and up from 3.4% in July 2023. The Hudson Valley Region’s July 2024 unemployment rate ranked third among the 10 labor market regions in New York State, trailing only the Capital Region (3.7%) and the Long Island Region (3.8%). In July 2024, there were 47,100 unemployed in the region, up from 41,700 in June 2024 and up from 40,600 in July 2023. Year-over-year in July 2024, the overall Hudson Valley labor force decreased by 14,600 or 1.2%, to 1,196,700.
In July 2024, the lowest unemployment rate within the region (3.5%) was recorded in Sullivan County, followed by Rockland County, 3.7%; Putnam County, 3.8%; Dutchess County, 3.9%; Orange County, 3.9%; Westchester County, 4.0% and Ulster County 4.1%.
LOWER HUDSON VALLEY
Jeffrey Loughlin, President of the Building & Construction Trades Council of Westchester & Putnam Counties, Inc.
Jeffrey Loughlin, who also serves as business manager of Operating Engineers L.U. 137, reports cautious optimism that the trades will be busy for the remainder of 2024 and into 2025 in large part due to large projects both under construction or set to begin.
He noted that the ECCO III/Skanska joint venture has a $849-million project at the New York City Department of Environmental Protection’s Hillview Reservoir on a 66-month schedule. He said that project work should be underway by early October.
Currently, the $1.2-billion tunnel project between the Kensico Reservoir and the Eastview facility is in phase one consisting of site preparation. PJS Montesano JV LLC, the joint venture enterprise of Paul. J Scariano, Inc., and Montesano Bros. Inc., are working on the $107-million project.
A project in the early approval process in the City of White Plains is the $2.5-billion redevelopment of the former Galleria Mall. Mr. Loughlin said he is hopeful that discussions with City Council members will eventually result in a Project Labor Agreement with the building trades. Last September, Pacific Retail Capital Partners, SL Green Realty Corporation, Aareal Bank (owners of The Galleria at White Plains) and others presented the redevelopment plan for the property to the White Plains Common Council.
Mr. Loughlin said negotiations are nearing completion on a PLA with construction manager EW Howell Construction Group of Melville, NY for a new Elizabeth Seton pediatric facility. The project is in White Plains and estimated at $118 million.
He also noted that some of the additional expansion work at the Regeneron Pharmaceutical headquarters in Greenburgh/ Tarrytown has been awarded to union contractors.
Another driver of project work has been utility projects with Con Edison, he said.
Edward Cooke, Vice President of the Building & Construction Trades Council of Westchester & Putnam Counties, Inc.
Edward Cooke said the building trades have secured a significant amount of work under PLAs with Westchester County, including work at the Kensico Reservoir.
With the support of newly elected Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne, the trades have successfully negotiated four PLAs for project work including at Stoneleigh Avenue and Drewville Road (intersection improvements), the Fair Street Bridge reconstruction and the Sprout Brook Road Over Canopus Creek Bridge Replacement Project.
Mr. Cooke, who also serves as business representative of the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters and Local 279 in Hopewell Junction, NY, noted that the building trades recently negotiated the first PLA in 15 years with the City of White Plains on a chiller project. Another recent PLA is work at the John Jay Homestead with the New York State Parks Department.
He noted that there are several PLAs under negotiation, including the aforementioned Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center (in partnership with the AFL-CIO), White Plains Hospital’s latest expansion project, Westchester Joint Water Works.
MID-HUDSON REGION
Todd Diorio, President of the Hudson Valley Building & Construction Trades Council.
Todd Diorio said, “Overall the building and construction trades have been busy, but several of the trades that are building (sector) only are down slightly in man hours, so pretty much it has been a flat year for the building trades—nothing spectacular, but nothing to really complain about either.”
Mr. Diorio, who also serves as president of Laborers Local No. 17 in Newburgh, NY, noted that 64% of the Laborers man hours so far this year have been associated with heavy highway work. Normally, the ratio between heavy highway and building work is 50%-50%, he noted.
While the trades have benefited from NYSDOT road and bridge work, Mr. Diorio related, “We still don’t believe there is as much DOT work and infrastructure monies as there should be. They are dumping a lot of money upstate into the Syracuse corridor… So, we are not seeing the funding we thought we would see in 2024. We are busy in heavy highway work, but we should be busier. There is a lot of money going elsewhere in the State of New York.”
Some of the main drivers of work in the Mid-Hudson region include work at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the warehouse development sector, particularly in Orange and Ulster counties, as well as utility/gas project work and the Rondout Bypass Tunnel project with the New York City DEP.
In addition, the second phase of the New York State Dormitory Authority project to build a new Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center in New Hampton, NY should begin soon. A joint venture of Hunter Roberts Prismatic Constructors—OMH Mid- Hudson JV was the apparent low bidder on the project at $326,698,514. He said that project is going to commence later this year, possibly as early as late October/early November with a PLA.
Other significant work through PLA prehire pacts are:
- The $75 million CTE project with the Newburgh School District;
- The Ashokan Reservoir remediation project;
- Upstate road projects with New York City DEP.
Mr. Diorio said the outlook for 2025 is good with a potential Chip-Fab project to be built in Dutchess County and a major warehouse project in the Town of Wawayanda named “Project Blue Bird,” which is currently wending its way through local review boards.
Due to the projected volume of work heading into 2025, Mr. Diorio said, “There is a demand for good quality labor, and I think the Laborers and some of the building trades are in a pretty good spot when it comes to negotiations right now. There is definitely a demand for quality skilled laborers and to keep the skilled laborers in the Hudson Valley.”
He added the industry will have to compete with laborers pay rates in New York City and New Jersey. He expects “long negotiations” in the heavy highway sector due to the intense demand for labor.
Stephen Reich, Vice President of the Rockland County Building and Construction Trades Council.
Stephen Reich, who also serves as business manager of Laborers Local No. 754 of Chestnut Ridge, NY, said the Laborers and most of the county’s building trades are near full employment.
Mr. Reich, who also serves as president of the Eastern New York Laborers District Council, said work has begun on the Rockland County portion of the Champlain Hudson Power Express project. He noted that work is almost finished on phase one of the Databank data center project in Orangeburg, and the firm is working on securing approvals for phase two of the development there.
Other work includes the IV2 Logistics Center project at the former Novartis Pharmaceutical property at 25 Old Mill Road in Suffern, NY. The development plan calls for 1,221,800 square feet of new warehouse space. The site work has been awarded to a union contractor. The concrete component is also being performed by union workers, he noted.
Mr. Reich also credited the Rockland County Industrial Development Agency for its local labor policies which have been instrumental in bolstering local union employment. He pointed to other funding sources, including Local 825’s ELEC fund, that have helped the building trades remain competitive in securing work.
“All of these vehicles that we have been talking about implementing over the last (few) years to try to be more competitive on this private work are definitely bearing some fruit,” Mr. Reich noted.
Other projects cited by Mr. Reich include work on the New York State Thruway by DeFoe Corp.’s and JR Cruz, as well as significant utility (gas and electric) work from Orange & Rockland Utilities, and a $7-million water main replacement project in the Village of Nyack.
Looking ahead, Mr. Reich said he is “cautiously optimistic” that the momentum of 2024 will continue into 2025 for the Rockland County building trades.
