The Jersey City Council voted unanimously (9-0) to dissolve the municipal construction board of appeals at last night’s meeting after much controversy.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“So while I support the ordinance, voting yes does not help make sure workers are treated fairly in Jersey City. I hope you agree with me when I say that every Jersey City construction worker deserves to go home healthy, with enough money in their paycheck to provide for their families,” said Chris Capers, a member of LIUNA Local 3 who has been outspoken on this subject.
“This isn’t just about one bad contractor or one bad project, these days, development in Jersey City relies on worker exploitation. So while serving as the chair of the construction board of appeals, Sunny Kumar allowed workers to be underpaid, overworked, exposed to dangerous conditions on his job sites.”
He continued that LIUNA has helped nine of their members recover roughly half a million dollars in stolen wages, which was only from two jobs sites.
The first reading of the measure was approved unanimously (8-0) back at the council’s August 14th meeting, nearly a year-and-a-half after the administration first proposed it before it fell to the wayside.
Ward B Councilwoman Mira Prinz-Arey, the primary sponsor of the measure, asked for the vote to be delayed two weeks at the September 11th council meeting since Kumar had been voted out as chair and wanted to review a few other clerical points before the final vote.
“The reason why we should get ride of the board is that board decisions, sometimes, don’t favor the right decision. And it’s unfair to people small, like me and other contractors that get denied for something we shouldn’t have been denied for,” noted Bernard Schivers, the owner of Bees Construction.
“When you deny a small company, you can corrupt and break that company. So I say when you take food out of my kid’s mouth, and the workers that work for me kid’s mouth, that’s a problem. That’s a problem … Y’all can make it right.”
After a few other construction workers spoke in Spanish (a translator relayed their remarks in English) in favor of getting rid of the board, Kumar approached the podium to boos to make remarks many in attendance were not expecting.
“When the administration wanted to dissolve the board last time, I was in support of that. And today I’m in support of that as well. I’m requesting the council dissolve the board and send it to the county. Thank you,” he said succinctly.
The council was happy to oblige, voting 9-0 to disestablish the board on second reading of the ordinance.
As Kumar alluded to, “the County Construction Board of Appeals is empowered to hear appeals from decisions by the relevant enforcing agency” now, the local legislation says.
