Labor Disputes

So about those unions standing in the way of Bruce Ratner's big dreams: there's a good chance the unions will take the pay cuts and work on Atlantic Yards anyway. In a Machiavellian bait-and-switch, Forest City Ratner relied on labor union support to get AY up and running. Now, with the promise of modular construction of which 60% will be manufactured in a factory, workers will inevitably be taking a hit: "carpenters make as much as $90 an hour in wages and benefits at real construction sites, but only $30 per hour when working inside the kind of factory." Some seem resigned to it, noting that if the laborers don't acquiesce, the project won't happen and they won't get any work at all. [Brooklyn Paper]