For 108 years, groups representing New York City's union contractors and building trades have worked under the New York Plan for the Resolution of Jurisdictional Disputes, an agreement used to resolve inter-union disputes and bind union contractors to use organized labor. But at year-end, the era comes to a close. The Building Trades Employers Association, which represents union contractors, voted in May to let the plan expire after this year, giving members the option to use non-union workers.
It was a shot across the bow, just as the two groups were heading into the collective bargaining season. The message was clear: Something's got to give.