Advocates

T.R.A.D.E.S. Information for Advocates

The TRADES/NYCHA agreement for the CM Build program is essentially a tool for enforcing the long-ignored promise of the 1968 federal “Section 3” law requiring Housing Authorities and their contractors to make a best-faith effort to hire residents for housing authority construction work. That is, contractors and housing authorities have been able to overlook Section 3 for 36 years due to weak—or nonexistent—enforcement measures, and until Washington passes better legislation, the onus is on individual communities to create their own implementation tools.

What can communities do to enforce Section 3?

There are many creative tools that communities can employ to enforce Section 3. A few examples are:

  • Agreeing to a similar CM Build program where the mandate for hiring and training residents is written directly into the contract between the Housing Authority and the contractors.
  • Signing a joint Memorandum of Understanding between the Housing Authority, labor, residents and the community. Although there is currently an Executive Order banning Project Labor Agreements, this could potentially be included in an MOU in the future.
  • Campaigning for the Housing Authority to create a numerical requirement for contractors to meet (i.e. in the absence of the federal law having one). This could be in the form of hours worked, percentage of Full Time Equivalents on the job, etc.
  • Seeking a Determination of Non-Compliance from HUD. See below for the successful complaint that a California tenant association made against the City of Long Beach.

Finally, regardless of the chosen Section 3-implementation tool, advocates should push for Housing Authorities to include detailed Section 3 data in their Annual & 5-Year Plans. These reports are released to the public, open for comment, and submitted to HUD each year. In New York, we have and will continue to advocate specifically for data on all of NYCHA Section 3 programs, including the number of residents employed, the number placed in pre-apprenticeship and other training programs, their wages and length of employment.

Does Section 3 only apply to Public Housing?

No, Section 3 applies to many HUD funded programs. As amended in 1994, Section 3 applies to the following HUD assistance:

  1. Public and Indian housing assistance. Section 3 applies to training, employment, contracting and other economic opportunities arising from the expenditure of the following public and Indian housing assistance:
    1. Development assistance provided pursuant to section 5 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 (1937 Act);
    2. Operating assistance provided pursuant to section 9 of the 1937 Act; and
    3. Modernization assistance provided pursuant to section 14 of the 1937 Act;
  2. Housing and community development assistance. Section 3 applies to training, employment, contracting and other economic opportunities arising in connection with the expenditure of housing assistance (including section 8 assistance, and including other housing assistance not administered by the Assistant Secretary of Housing) and community development assistance that is used for the following projects;
    1. Housing rehabilitation (including reduction and abatement of lead-based paint hazards, but excluding routine maintenance, repair and replacement);
    2. Housing construction; and
    3. Other public construction.

Most notable is that this includes “other public construction” with HUD dollars, and that the assistance is further defined in the law as applying specifically to community development block grants and Section 108 loan guarantees. As an excellent example of a non-public housing case, HUD recently made a Determination of Non-Compliance, for Section 3 under a Section 108 loan guarantee, in the case of Carmelitos Tenant Association, et al v. City of Long Beach, et al.

It was a landmark decision not only because it was an “other” HUD funding source, but also because it used a number-of-hours formula to determine the finding and demanded a restitution plan for the jobs. For more information, go to the National Housing Law Project’s website at www.nhlp.org or go directly to the decision.