Joint Statement By Mayor Bill de Blasio, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Union Leaders Hector Figueroa And Stuart Appelbaum On The City's Action To Drop Its Legal Challenge To The Prevailing Wage Law

June 6, 2014

The de Blasio administration today asked a state court to take steps that would allow the implementation of the City's prevailing wage law (Local Law 27 of 2012) to provide wage protections to building service workers in buildings that receive at least $1 million in City subsidies or that benefit from significant rent payments by the City. Mayor de Blasio, Speaker Mark-Viverito, President of 32BJ Héctor Figueroa, and President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union Stuart Appelbaum released the following statement on the joint legal filing of the City, the City Council and the two unions:

"By dropping the City's challenge to the prevailing wage law, we are taking an important step toward helping families that may be one paycheck away from homelessness and hunger. We are moving one step closer to lifting a wage floor that has sunk below ground level; and we are moving toward expanding the number of jobs that pay a living wage, that will allow people not only to pay for their most basic needs, but also to spend a little time with their families, rather than work two or even three jobs without a day off.  Far too many New Yorkers are living at or near the poverty line. Dropping the City's challenge will help us begin to offer more people a pathway to the middle class.

"We believe projects that receive City subsidies and incentives should pay their workers fairly—and it is our duty to ensure these projects provide living-wage jobs to hardworking New Yorkers. No resident should work full time and still struggle to afford living in this city—and today's actions will help us provide real opportunity for thousands of hardworking New Yorkers.

"In filing our joint motion arguing that the court should not block Local Law 27 when all parties agree on its validity, City Hall, the City Council and the City's workforce are standing united in our commitment to protecting the economic security for hardworking New York families."