The HYM Investment Group, Building Trades Unions, and John Moriarty & Associates sign region’s largest-ever private sector project labor agreement for Suffolk Downs Redevelopment
Equity and inclusion at center of pact that will create access and opportunity for family-sustaining careers over next two decades
BOSTON, MA / REVERE, MA – The HYM Investment Group, Building Trades Unions and John Moriarty & Associates announced today that they have signed an unprecedented Project Labor Agreement (PLA) for the construction of the Suffolk Downs Redevelopment. This partnership was made possible through the collaborative efforts of the signatories, along with Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Revere Mayor Brian Arrigo, and Boston City Councilor Lydia Edwards.
The agreement will ensure Suffolk Downs is union-built and will create 14,000 construction jobs. The 16 million square foot development will include 10,000 units of housing including more affordable units than have ever been created in Boston by a single project.
As part of the agreement, the parties announced that HYM will furnish $2 million in investments that will go towards supporting employment pipelines to quality, union careers, and to prepare local residents to join the future workforce at Suffolk Downs. That investment and other key aspects of the agreement will further build upon the robust equity and inclusion initiatives currently being led by the Building Trades Unions with support from key construction industry partners such as HYM.
The innovative approach set forth by the new PLA will provide funds to create new pathways to the building trades for even more workers and traditionally underrepresented communities. PLAs like the one announced today by HYM and the Building Trades Unions ensure social and economic justice by providing family-supporting wages, life-saving safety and training standards, healthcare benefits, and dignified retirement benefits, all while ensuring racial and gender pay equity for workers and their families in the construction industry.
One program benefiting from those investments will be Building Pathways. Originally founded by City of Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, the program increases participation and access in the construction industry for women and people of color through apprenticeship preparedness, training and advocacy.
“An entire generation of new construction workers in the area will experience family-sustaining career opportunities thanks to this agreement and the access it will create at a scale rarely seen,” said Mary Vogel, Executive Director of Building Pathways. “Through this project labor agreement, HYM, the Building Trades Unions, and the Cities of Boston and Revere will generate opportunity for thousands of women and people of color including those who graduate through our program. It’s great news for workers, for the community, and for the economy of Greater Boston.”
In addition to the $1 million that will be invested in Building Pathways, a portion of the $2 million investment in workforce development will fund an initiative to provide access to nonstandard hour child care for working parents in the trades through the efforts of the Care that Works campaign.
The investment in workforce development furthers the mission of the Building Pathways program in East Boston and Revere by taking an innovative approach to ensure that more local residents have the skills to fill future jobs at Suffolk Downs. This methodology creates an employment pipeline to quality, union jobs, effectively changing the lives of community members.
In addition, HYM and JMA are also pledging $1 million to skill-building initiatives for East Boston and Revere, to ensure that more local residents have the skills necessary to fill future employment roles at Suffolk Downs. The development team will work with the City of Boston Office of Workforce Development to invest in workforce training programs such as ESL classes, teaching soft skills, and computer and technical training to make sure the local community can join the future workforce of Suffolk Downs.
“It’s great to see the Building Pathways program benefitting in such a significant way from work at Suffolk Downs, which will help build the talent pipeline here in Boston,” said Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh. “I want to thank all partners involved for this incredible agreement that will go a long way towards building up our middle class with good careers and access to opportunity.”
“Project Labor Agreements like the one announced today between HYM, the Building Trades Unions, and Moriarty & Associates will create important opportunities for Revere families to access union career pathways that will make our communities and local economy stronger,” said City of Revere Mayor Brian Arrigo. “We were proud to support it and we both applaud and congratulate all parties involved. We look forward to the many benefits this pact will ensure for Revere residents and families.”
“It is critical that East Boston residents benefit from our city’s economic growth as unprecedented development surges toward the skyline,” said Boston City Councilor Lydia Edwards. “With this project labor agreement, a graduating senior at East Boston High School could walk to work for the next two decades, join a union, earn a strong wage, and bring resources back into the community.”
“We’re grateful for the partnership of the Building Trades Unions and John Moriarity & Associates and our elected officials, in ensuring that Suffolk Downs will be union-built and that our construction efforts will provide economic opportunity to the Boston and Revere communities,” said HYM Founding Partner and Managing Director Thomas N. O’Brien. “This project will only be successful if the people who build, live and work at Suffolk Downs and in the surrounding community are successful. This agreement ensures that the richness of diversity in Boston and Revere is reflected in the people who will be building this project.”
“This project labor agreement will intentionally create access and opportunity for family sustaining-careers across every neighborhood of Boston and Revere,” said Brian Doherty, General Agent of the Building and Construction Trades Council of the Metropolitan District (MetroBTC). “The agreement will strengthen our communities through the union career pathways and advancements in equity and inclusion that will be generated at a massive scale through this innovative and inclusive agreement.”
“Our top priority has always been, and always will be, investing in our workforce. These additional benefits will make an impact to ensure that the men and women we work with will live better on and off the job,” said John Moriarty of John Moriarty & Associates.
“Benefits such as healthcare and retirement contributions will be life changing for those who have previously lacked access to such advantages,” said Tom Flynn, Executive Secretary Treasurer of the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters. “We are excited by the important opportunities that this agreement will bring to workers and Greater Boston as a whole.”