New York, NY – Holding signs and chanting outside a Hudson Companies Inc. development in Manhattan on July 13, 2026, Laborers Local 79 construction workers demanded that the developer stop relying on contractors that exploit vulnerable workers. These contractors often employ unqualified workers undermining construction safety.
According to Local 79 leadership, “Body shop” contractors and sub-contractors keep costs low by suppressing wages, providing little or no meaningful training, and fail to provide benefits. The union claims that Hudson Companies has repeatedly relied on contractors that take advantage of workers and disregard the need for quality construction in the building industry.
“Every construction worker deserves the tools to live with dignity, including fair wages, safe working conditions, access to healthcare and retirement benefits, and a workplace free from exploitation,” said David Bolger, Business Manager of the Mason Tenders District Council. “Last week’s emergency building evacuation showed exactly what can happen when labor standards are sacrificed in the name of cutting costs and maximizing profits. We are putting Hudson Companies and Apex Labor Solutions/Marin Workforce on notice: we will fight back against any company that treats worker exploitation as a business model. Affordable housing should never be built on the backs of exploited workers or at the expense of safety and dignity.”
“No one building affordable housing should be living in poverty – especially when the construction is City-subsidized,” said Anthony Vita, Business Manager of Laborers Local 79. “We will continue to fight for dignity, respect, and sustainable careers for all construction workers, and we will continue to organize until every worker has access to good union jobs with family-sustaining wages, healthcare, and retirement benefits.”
The demonstration came just days after the evacuation of a residential conversion project on East 42nd Street, where buckling structural columns and sagging floors raised concerns about construction safety and put workers and members of the public at risk. Labor leaders said the incident underscored the dangers of cutting corners on labor standards in the construction of affordable housing.
