Newly Elected AFL-CIO President Trumka Weighs-In For Responsible Development (9/23/09)

In one of his first acts as the newly elected president of the national AFL-CIO, Rich Trumka (above left, with RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum) came to New York City Tuesday to show his solidarity with an RWDSU-backed effort to promote responsible economic development in the Bronx. The union, together with an alliance of labor, church, and neighborhood groups, is pressing owners of the abandoned Kingsbridge Armory to create middle-class jobs for construction workers who are rebuilding it as a shopping center, as well as the retail workers who'll be employed by merchants after it opens.

 

"Economic development has to be about building communities and not just building profits for developers," Trumka told a forum of community and labor leaders. "Too many developers see our communities as a place to turn a quick buck without returning anything of lasting value," he added. "We need to change that."

 

"Economic development that creates jobs that keep people in poverty accomplishes nothing," said RWDSU President Appelbaum. "What's happening here in the Bronx reflects what we are fighting for across the country. We are creating a better approach to economic development; an approach that calls on developers to create living wage jobs, respect workers right to join a union and to give back to the communities where they operate. Especially when a developer is benefiting from public support like tax breaks and other incentives, that developer has an obligation to improve the lives of working families in our community."   

 

"This is our Armory and we will not allow it to be used solely as a profit
center for Related," said Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter, a leader of the
Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA), as she met with Trumka and Appelbaum. "We need good jobs and better schools, not just more shopping options."

 

KARA is a coalition of unions, community groups, churches and small business
owners advocating for living wage jobs, community space, recreational
facilities and schools at the Armory.

 

Fred LeMoine, KARA member and Vice President of the Bronx Board of Business
Agents, the Bronx branch of the Building and Construction Trades Council of
Greater New York and vicinity, said, "Responsible development means sitting
down with all the community stakeholders to make sure their needs are met.
We stand with President Trumka and our labor and community partners today to
make sure that when we build in the Bronx, or anywhere, we do it in a way
that doesn't just drain resources but provides real and lasting benefits."