For Immediate Release
EAST BRUNSWICK NJ, JULY 8, 2014 – Jersey City Mayor Steven M. Fulop told Local 825 operating engineers last night, “We’re making sure that union labor dominates job sites all around Jersey City.”
Speaking at the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 825 semiannual meeting at the East Brunswick Hilton, Fulop told nearly 300 union members that, thanks to a building boom, Jersey City will be the state’s largest city by 2016.
He said, “We’re serious about project labor agreements (PLAs) in Jersey City” because “everyone should benefit from these projects, including the people who work on them.”
A project labor agreement establishes employee wage rates and benefits on a project before it begins. It ensures that these wages are paid to any worker who is hired and may include provisions to prevent work stoppages, helping to ensure project completion on time and on budget.
Local 825 Business Manager Greg Lalevee praised Mayor Fulop for understanding the value of Local 825, which places its focus on quality construction and safety while completing projects on time and on budget.
Operating Engineers run cranes, bulldozers and other heavy equipment used in construction of highways, roads, bridges and high-rise buildings.
“People sometimes don’t realize that every time they drive to work, get on a train or step into an elevator, they’re entrusting their safety to you,” Fulop told the members. He said that it is especially true of Local 825 operating engineers, “because our region is one of, if not the most developed and densely populated in the world.”
He cited the emphasis that Local 825 has placed on training to make sure its heavy equipment operators have the skills they need before they even get on the jobsite.
Fulop became the 49th Mayor of Jersey City on July 1, 2013, after defeating Jerome Healey.
Local 825 is headquartered in Springfield, NJ, and represents more than 6,500 operating engineers throughout New Jersey and five counties of lower New York: Rockland, Orange, Ulster, Sullivan and Delaware.
Contact
Greg Lalevee
Business Manager, Local 825
(973) 671-6900
PR Contact
Bill Carlos
Avow Communications
(908) 499-7862