Today we stand at a decisive moment in the history of New York State. With State approval of the design-build contract for the New NY Bridge, and funding available to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge, we are commencing what will be the largest public works project ever undertaken in State history.

BuildTheBridgeNowNY.org is a broad statewide coalition of major employers, transportation professionals, civil engineers, and labor organizations representing more than 300,000 employees and more than 15,000 employers. Together, we support and applaud the broad efforts to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge with the New NY Bridge.

                         We commend State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and his office for expediting the examination of the New NY Bridge Project, which can now create thousands of direct and indirect jobs in New York and rebuild our aging span between Tarrytown and Nyack. Along with our federal, state and local political leaders, hundreds of New York State officials at the Thruway Authority, the Department of Transportation and the Governor’s office are to be commended for their tireless efforts over the past year to research, analyze and review three enormously complex design-build proposals. Their dedicated efforts have brought us to today’s historic approval and we should all be proud of and thank these dedicated men and women who work so diligently for us. Transportation mobility is the lifeblood of the suburban and downstate region, and improving it with a new crossing will mean a tremendous boost for families, companies and our homeland security.”  (January 18, 2013)

                         —   Ross J. Pepe, President, Construction Industry Council of Westchester & Hudson Valley, Inc, and the Building Contractors Association of Westchester & Mid-Hudson Region, Inc. Treasurer, www.BuildTheBridgeNowNY.org

 

 

 

 

Bobby Stackhouse feels the growing excitement for the new Tappan Zee Bridge as he fuels the boats of the first work crews on the river.

It’s just Stackhouse and about two dozen other union workers currently on site, but they will gradually get more company as thousands of laborers join the monumental effort to build the Tappan Zee replacement in the next five years.

“This is just the beginning,” said Stackhouse, who grew up in North Tarrytown and is lead steward on the project for Teamsters and Chauffeurs Local 456. “All the trades have been starving for the last five or six years — it’s been so bad. This job is like adrenaline being tapped into you. Once it gets going, it’s going to put many people back to work.”

The $3.9 billion project to replace the Tappan Zee is expected to employ roughly 2,600 full-time construction workers each year for the next five years, according to state economic models based on the cost of the project. Some of those union members may work during certain portions of the project, while others may be employed for the duration of the project.

So far, the small team that includes Stackhouse is making early preparations such as setting up staging areas on piers and testing the river soil. As the work intensifies in the coming months, Stackhouse, 59, will manage groups of truck drivers, transport equipment for repairs and keep track of supplies.

“People who are coming to this job know it’s steady work for a while, and they’ll be OK with their bills,” he said. “Everyone is very happy out here.”

From carpenters to crane operators, workers from dozens of construction specialties will all work under the same labor agreement to complete the 3-mile, twin spans by April 2018.

The deal encompasses some 50 locals and was negotiated last year between local and state union leaders and the New York State Thruway Authority. The several-hundred-page document establishes consistent policies regarding work hours, overtime rates and holidays. The common rules will save the state some $450 million, while also providing highly skilled workers for the complex job, officials say.

Longer work weeks

Many of the unions typically work 35 hours a week, with any work beyond that paid as overtime. But under the bridge’s labor agreement, the standard work week on the project will be 40 hours, either in four 10-hour days or five eight-hour days.

The wages, compensation packages and annual raises union workers receive will vary based on trade and experience. They are standard rates for their work that were negotiated between the unions and their trade councils, and are not specific to the bridge project. Workers will also receive annual raises based on trade and experience.

For example, a fully-trained ironworker specializing in the bridge’s steel structure will receive $110 an hour in total compensation. That includes $46 in wages and $64 for health and other benefits.

Workers will receive an extra $25 every day they show up an hour before the start of their shift, to give them more than enough time to catch a bus or boat to their job site. The bonus is designed to save TZC both time and money by making sure shifts start on time, officials said.

A cap on the overtime rate is another way the state expects to save money. While some unions are paid a double-time rate for overtime, all union workers on this job will be paid at time-and-a-half.

The agreement also standardizes paid holidays for workers. Some unions receive a dozen holidays on other jobs, but will get eight on this one. The deal details how to settle disputes and handle injuries and guarantees that there will be no strikes, slowdowns or picketing by labor or lockouts by management.

Even with the compromises, the deal was worth it because it will give a pool of some 40,000 union members a chance for steady work, union leaders said. That’s important for some trades that have suffered with unemployment rates as high as 40 percent in recent years.

“What’s guaranteed is that the men on the job are from (local) building trades,” said Pete Creegan, business agent for Iron Workers Ornamental Local 580, which has about 1,000 members in Westchester and Putnam counties. “It keeps the people living in the area paying their school taxes, putting their kids through school, and keeping those communities alive. Everyone benefits.”

Safety and security

While standardized rules in project labor agreements are typical, the one for the Tappan Zee project includes stiff, and in some cases unprecedented, requirements to minimize the risk of accidents, ensure top performance and keep the site secure.

“This job … requires every worker on the job, including management, including people designing the bridge in an office miles way, to be substance tested” for drug and alcohol use, Ross Pepe, president of the Construction Industry Council of Westchester and Hudson Valley, said.

“It’s the only public works project in the state, that I know of, that has a requirement for substance testing,” Pepe said.

The drug and alcohol tests will be administered before employment, on a random basis, following accidents and for reasonable suspicion. Tarrytown-based Clarity Testing will carry out the program and perform daily urine tests on site.

Because project workers will know details about the bridge’s design and structure, workers have to undergo background checks to see whether they have criminal histories, immigration issues or financial problems that could make them vulnerable to bribes, officials said.

Those entering the work zone, whether they are top managers, daily workers or visitors, will have to go through homeland security clearance ahead of time.

These safety and security measures also lower costs for liability insurance and worker’s compensation and reduce the project’s overall price tag, they said.

A diverse workforce

Women and minority workers will get special consideration as part of the labor agreement. It requires that nearly 30 percent of the total construction hours — 22.6 percent for minorities and 6.9 percent for women — go to those groups.

Though there aren’t specific requirements for this project, union leaders said they are currently working with Helmets to Hard Hats to get military veterans on the job.

Union workers will carry out the majority of the actual construction, but the labor agreement allows up to 12 percent of the workforce to include nonunion workers.

Because public money is involved, even non-union construction workers have to be paid the prevailing wage, which is set by state law.

Most of the nonunion work on the project will be related to activities outside of construction, such as public relations and information technology.

Creegan, the ironworker union leader, said the Tappan Zee project is a special opportunity for workers to accomplish a great feat.

“They accept that challenge,” he said. “What’s a better feeling than making it happen at the end of the day?”

Tappan Zee wages and benefits

Here are projected earnings for some union workers on the Tappan Zee Bridge project. These figures are for journeymen, the most experienced workers in their trades. Apprentices used on the project will make less. The project labor agreement also calls for annual raises.
These figures are the total hourly package, which includes wages and benefits (health insurance, pension, annuity, vacation and other funds)
• Iron Workers Structural Local 40 (work on bridge’s steel structures)
$110.11 ($46 wage; $64.11 benefits)
• Operating Engineers Heavy/Highway Local 137 (crane operators rated over 100 tons)
$85.80 ($60 wage; $25.80 benefits)
• Carpenters Local 279
$68.52 ($33.48 wage; $35.04 benefits)
• Teamsters and Chaffeurs Local 456 (drivers of tri-axle trucks)
$60.19 ($38.02 wage; $22.17 benefits)
• Laborers Heavy/Highway Local 60 (concrete workers)
$54.40 ($34.55 wage; $19.85 benefits)
Sources: Tappan Zee Bridge project labor agreement and Construction Industry Council of Westchester and Hudson Valley

 

Written by Theresa Juva-Brown and Khurram Saeed, The Journal News (LoHud.com), 3/5/13

Local businesses are already getting a boost from the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project, while others from across the region eagerly await their own chances to benefit from the $3.9 billion effort.

Tappan Zee Constructors, the group that’s designing and building the new span, recently bought 36 vehicles from Schultz Ford in Nanuet and plans to buy up to 30 more for its project team, state officials say. A dealership owner declined to comment on the transaction.

That purchase is just the start of scores of opportunities local businesses will get as the new 3-mile span is built, project officials say.

“The one message we want you to take away is you have not missed out,” Brian Conybeare, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s special adviser on the project, told hundreds of eager business leaders in Tarrytown on Tuesday. “Bid packages are going to start rolling out this summer — the first batch — and over the next five years.”

The state and Tappan Zee Constructors hosted a business forum at the Westchester Marriott Hotel to explain how companies can compete for jobs as they become available. A pair of previous business events focused on disadvantaged enterprises and individuals seeking work on the project.

Tappan Zee Constructors is working on the bridge’s final design and will gradually put out requests for subcontractors over the next year, officials said.

Tappan Zee Constructors spokesman Chris Stokes urged businesses to register on its website and fill out pre-qualification forms. In order for companies to submit proposals on jobs, they have to qualify based on safety, financial and performance records. Companies that meet certain requirements will then be allowed to place bids.

Earl Latterell, a regional manager at Mammoet, attended the forum and said he feels confident his Texas-based company will win work.

“We provide a very specialized type of service — probably one of two companies in the world that do it,” he said, explaining that Mammoet has special equipment that could be used to demolish the existing bridge when the time comes.

Len Bisceglia, a sales representative for Kass Industrial Supply, based in the Bronx, also left Tuesday’s forum feeling optimistic.

“A lot of people think it’s all been put to bed, but there are still opportunities,” he said.

Sales manager Tom Lewis traveled all the way from Buffalo. His company, Hanes Supply, provides equipment such as worker safety harnesses, ropes and lifting devices.

“We do exactly what they need,” Lewis said. “The sheer dollar volume of business (the project) will generate is huge.”

Rafael Perez said he hopes his company, GCCOM Construction Co. Inc., based in Queens, can coordinate the labor for various stages of the actual construction.

“It’s a chance to help the company grow,” he said. “The economy is a little weak, and these jobs are few and far between.”

 

 

Written by Theresa Juva-Brown, The Journal News (LoHud.com), 4/24/13