US EditionWhy One California Union Sided with YIMBYs and Developers on Housing
CALIFORNIA, JUL 10 – The California Conference of Carpenters backs CEQA reforms to reduce delays for urban housing, supporting union wages on affordable projects and enabling faster development, lawmakers say.
- Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom signed California's biggest housing reform bill, Assembly Bill 130, in Sacramento with key support from the California Conference of Carpenters.
- This reform and others passed after the Carpenters broke away from other unions in 2022 to push bills easing environmental reviews and allowing more housing developments, amid longstanding issues of low pay and labor violations in non-union residential jobsites.
- The new legislation allows many urban apartment developments to bypass California’s environmental review process, thereby decreasing delays and uncertainties for builders, while also mandating union-level pay and benefits for certain qualifying projects.
- Senator Scott Wiener remarked that the shift transformed the conversation by opening room for more flexible discussions, while Governor Newsom credited the Carpenters union as a crucial force behind the success of the housing reform effort.
- This coalition split the labor movement, generating criticism from other trades worried about wage undercutting and worker displacement, as the state now faces uncertainty whether these reforms will sustain housing supply and improve affordability.
16 Articles
16 Articles
California Pivots: Cutting CEQA Red Tape To Boost Housing & Climate Goals - CleanTechnica
In rare good news out of the United States, California’s just passed reform of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) has opened the door for a wave of infill housing development, marking a significant shift in the state’s longstanding approach to urban growth. Signed into law a week ago, the ... [continued] The post California Pivots: Cutting CEQA Red Tape To Boost Housing & Climate Goals appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Could the Carpenters Organize Housing Construction Workers? - Lawyers, Guns & Money
This is super inside baseball, but here’s the deal–the United Brotherhood of Carpenters was very supportive of the new bills in California to allow for more housing to be built. That really helped the whole process along. But the Carpenters also pushed for a minimum wage in construction that the other building trades union condemned as selling them down the river. Now, that might seem bad. But the trades organize no one. It’s just holding on to …
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