Local 3 members and representatives stood up in solidarity with the Building & Construction Trades at the “All Trades Rally” on Thursday, October 24, on West 18th Street in Manhattan. Speaking before a large crowd of thousands of union construction workers, the rally featured remarks from Gary LaBarbera, President of the NYS Building & Construction Trades Council, and Vinny Alvarez, President of the NYC Central Labor Council, in addition to labor leaders, tradesmen and tradeswomen, apprentices, and allies of the labor movement from the local neighborhood and business community.
Above and beyond the issue of one casino potentially located in midtown, the point of the rally was to send a message loud and clear to anti-development (a.k.a. NIMBY or Not In My Backyard) activists and politicians: New York City is a union town built by organized labor, and moving forward, new high-rise construction across the city is necessary for affordable housing, job creation, and pathways to the middle class for all New Yorkers.
