Picketing at Revolution Labs Development (1050 Waltham St)

[Matt]

Town Meeting Members,

I noticed yesterday morning that there were picketing activities outside of the Revolution Labs building being constructed at 1050 Waltham St, with protest signs about unfair wages.  Does anyone have information about what this dispute is regarding?  Also, does anyone know if labor practices are considered during a Planned Development District rezoning as part of the MOU or other process?  Thanks in advance.

Very respectfully,

Matt Daggett

Precinct 2

[afri...@gmail.com]

Matt- 

Thank you for bringing up the question about labor practices.  If we say we are committed to equity, I feel that we need a process to ensure that the contractors we hire treat their staff fairly.

Andrea Fribush

Pct 6

On Mar 3, 2022, at 12:46 PM, Matt <ma...@mattdaggett.org> wrote:

Town Meeting Members,

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[Avram Baskin]

Would it be feasible to include a requirement that union labor be used in any project that results from a rezoning initiative?

Avram Baskin

Be yourself, 

everyone else is already taken

Oscar Wilde

On Mar 3, 2022, at 5:17 PM, afri...@gmail.com wrote:



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[Vicki Blier]

Avram- I know all the lyrics to " Union Maid," and I've never crossed a picket line in my entire life. I've got shop stewards in my family and the fathers of two close friends growing up were union officials. So I'm hardly anti- union.

But inserting that requirement into our permitting process is a TERRIBLE idea for so many reasons, my head is spinning.

Union Maid  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI7ONJ60DIc

Vicki Blier

781-862-1804 Landline First

617-549-3207 Mobile

    

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[Vicki Blier]

Avram- you are right, and I apologize.
Here are a few reasons off the top of my head:

The labor unions have not asked us to do that. 

It introduces a divisive political issue into our permitting process.

Lexington is already considered to be a difficult town for developers to work with. This will add to that perception.

It changes our competitive status compared to other towns.
No one is claiming that non-union construction workers are underpaid or exploited. In fact, there is a labor shortage in the skilled trades and non-union workers make excellent money in this state.

Unions are an advantage for certain projects because they provide trained skilled labor, but they make other projects more expensive. We don't know the unintended consequences of adding a union requirement for the kinds of projects we want to see in Lexington.

Developers already use union labor on the projects where it is beneficial to the project. In fact, some Hartwell projects have been union.

And.... are we even allowed by State law to require union labor for privately financed projects?

Vicki Blier

On Thu, Mar 3, 2022 at 8:30 PM Avram Baskin <avram....@me.com> wrote:

I freely admit that I have no expertise in this area, other than that my grandfather’s sister only bought union made clothing and that her husband was once head of the tobacco workers union.  Both of which have nothing to do with me.

That being said, your response is not very useful.  I’m just wondering what is making your head spin?  What are some of the reasons?  Is one of the reasons that this would negatively impact the prospects for new development? 

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[Richard Canale]

Re: [LexTMMA] Picketing at Revolution Labs Development (1050 Waltham St)

On Mar 3, 2022, at 9:09 PM, Vicki Blier <v...@blier.net> wrote:

...

Lexington is already considered to be a difficult town for developers to work with. This will add to that perception.

It changes our competitive status compared to other towns.

The “accepted" narrative pushed by the Pro-Developer folks is that "Lexington is already considered to be a difficult town for developers to work with”. But does that match the reality?  I know from my time on the Planning Board that developers who do business in other Towns such as Wellesley and Burlington and North Andover as well as Lexington had a much easier path to getting approvals in Lexington compared to other Towns for similar projects. In the time since I left, Lexington has become a pushover for developers.

Richard Canale, pct 9, TMM, and former Planning Board member

[gjb...@rcn.com]

I agree.  When the Waterstone Bridges project on Pleasant Street was approved, we learned that the same developer was doing the same sort of project in Wellesley, but 25% of the units were to be affordable, not 10%.  When questioned, the developer said that was because Wellesley required 25% of the units to be affordable and Lexington did not.  I suggest that we change our building codes such  that anytime a developer comes to us for an increase in density that they understand 25% of the units must be affordable.  If the project is too small (under 4 units),  then the developer should pay what it actually costs the town or Lexhab to build such a unit. If the density increased from 1 unit to 3 units,the compensation should be 75% of the current actual cost of a unit.  Obviously details should be worked out for this particular problem need to be carefully considered.,    The only reason Hartwell wasn't redeveloped were the restrictions on height and gfa from the 80's.  They were removed and redevelopment is booming.

The fact remains - Lexington is a pushover.

Gloria Bloom

[sallyebleiberg4]

I live at Brookhaven, abutting the construction site on Waltham St.  A union worker taking a walk during lunchtime, told a group of us that the construction company was treating non-union, immigrant workers unfairly.  Our paths diverged so I did not learn specifics.  The worker blurted this out without context.  Sallye Bleiberg