Related agrees to hike wages for Hudson Yards workers

Deal boosts minimum hourly wage to $11.75

From left: Mayor Bill de Blasio, rendering of Hudson Yards and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg
From left: Mayor Bill de Blasio, rendering of Hudson Yards and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg

In a deal that overturns the Related Companies’ Bloomberg-era exception to the 2012 living-wage law, Mayor de Blasio reached an agreement that will lift wages for workers on the Hudson Yards project.

Under the new arrangement, 1,650 engineers, security guards, janitors, customer service and marketing staff will make a minimum hourly wage of $11.75. The majority of Related’s workers are unionized and already make more than the mandated minimum, according to the Wall Street Journal. But the move will hike the income of Related affiliates at some restaurants and a gym.

“We believe in taking every opportunity to lift up working people and to make this a city where everyone can rise together,” de Blasio told the Journal. “And we are fundamentally committed to working in close partnership with the private sector to do it.”

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Luxury leather goods manufacturer Coach, a Hudson Yards tenant which purchased its retail space, will be exempt from the deal with the mayor, the Journal reported.

The de Blasio administration is also looking to set up similar deals with developers with other major projects in the pipeline, even if those projects have already received city approval, Alicia Glen, deputy mayor for housing and economic development, told the Journal. [WSJ]Julie Strickland