A nonunion construction firm, Flintlock Construction Services, is making deep inroads into the Manhattan market, which has long been dominated by union firms. Crain’s reported the firm has contracts to erect or alter nine buildings that rise 20 stories or taller, mostly in Midtown, including a 27-story hotel under construction at Lexington Avenue and East 45th Street, a 37-story hotel on West 42nd Street and a 22-story Courtyard by Marriott on West 30th Street. The company was also selected by Zeckendorf Realty, a longtime union developer, for its 18 Gramercy Park condominium conversion. [more]

The International Union of Operating Engineers Locals 14 and 15 reached new three-year deals late yesterday with contractor associations, avoiding a strike that may have brought city construction to an abrupt halt, Crain’s reported.

Louis Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers’ Association said the unions “made major adjustments” in order to facilitate a deal though details of the agreements were not immediately available. Operating engineers put a “substantial offer” on the table, according to one labor source. … [more]

The steamfitters’ union has inked a new contract with officials from the construction industry as the deadline for some two dozen labor agreements looms, according to Crain’s. The three-year deal approved by Enterprise Associates of Steamfitters’ Local 368 this past weekend was only the second new union contract to be agreed upon prior to Thursday’s expiration of the industry’s labor agreements, following a deal with the painters’ union in the spring. Carpenters, concrete workers, mason tenders and brick layers have yet to reach an agreement, but operating engineers are the laborers expected to present the biggest hurdle…. [more]

Ten billion dollars worth of construction may grind to a halt this week if unionized crane-operating engineers decide to strike over wages and licensing exams, according to Crain’s.
As the Thursday contract deadline approaches, contractors and developers who hire the engineers have been aggressively campaigning to eliminate “no-work” mechanics and oilers, who, they said, get compensated highly — around $700,000 per year — but do little graft. By eliminating the positions entirely, $67 million could be saved at the World Trade Center site over three years, they said. Managers and owners have also been urging the city to begin national licensing exams for operators to increase safety standards. Labor leaders, however, see the exam proposals as a means to leverage concessions from unions. … [more]

New York’s building contractors have voted to end a more than century-old pact to use only union labor on construction sites as a June 30 deadline nears for building trades contract negotiations in the city. According to Crain’s, Louis Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers’ Association, said yesterday that his board of governors voted to end the New York Plan for the Resolution of Jurisdictional Disputes, which is set to expire Dec. 31 but has always been extended in the past. The long-time agreement, with the Building and Construction Trades Council, requires contractors to hire only union workers and helps to resolve disputes between unions so that work is never interrupted during projects…. [more]

The city’s School Construction Authority appears likely to emerge as one of the biggest real estate winners of the recession, having taken advantage of the lower costs of construction and the large supply of stalled private sector projects to build a record 26 new public school facilities this year. According to the New York Times, the authority is in its second year of an $11.7 billion five-year capital plan and that has catapulted it to the forefront of the construction industry. “All of a sudden, marquee construction firms that would only do projects that were $15 million and above are bidding for SCA jobs,” said Louis Coletti, who heads the Building Trades Employers’ Association…. [more]