Dive Brief:
- On the Williamsburg waterfront in New York's Brooklyn borough sits a defunct and decrepit sugar refinery, and a fight is building in City Hall to require all construction workers in a development project to be union members.
- Two Trees Development negotiated a deal with Mayor Bill De Blasio's office to develop the 11-acre Domino Sugar site with affordable housing in its mixed uses.
- Unions plan to mount a campaign to get the City Council to require all-union employment during the project, which needs council approval to move ahead.
Dive Insight:
The brewing dispute testifies to the power of labor in New York City politics, especially with the pro-labor De Blasio having won last year's election. Two Trees is known for hiring union crane operators and electricians on its projects, but the unions have said they want everyone on union scale.
