[NYguy]

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...IONS/120829918

Nearly all unions climb aboard Hudson Yards labor-cost deal
Related Cos. hammers out worker pact that should get first half of megaproject rolling

By Daniel Massey
August 26, 2012

After months of tense negotiations, the Related Cos. and the city's construction unions have agreed in principle to a series of cost-saving measures that will help push the $15 billion Hudson Yards project forward and ensure that it is built with union labor. Some four dozen unions covering more than a dozen trades agreed to cut wage and benefit packages and change work rules in order to grab a piece of a massive construction project that could keep their members working for at least 10 years. The overall deal, known as a project labor agreement, is not yet final, but last week, District Council of Carpenters delegates voted to approve a 10% wage and benefit reduction for work on Hudson Yards, the last of the participating unions to agree to help Related control costs.

...The project labor agreement covers the first half of the Hudson Yards project: two large commercial buildings, a residential skyscraper, a mixed-use tower and a retail complex encompassing about 8 million square feet on the eastern rail yards. Both sides expressed optimism that a further deal will be worked out when construction is ready to begin on the remainder of the project. Related needed cost savings to help make Hudson Yards affordable to tenants and competitive with commercial buildings being constructed in lower Manhattan. With the first building—a 46-story tower to house the corporate headquarters of retailer Coach—slated to start rising in the fall, time was running out for a deal. A Related spokeswoman declined to comment.