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July 6, 2006
BUILD Goes Begging
The Real Estate Observer reporter Matthew Schuerman continues his coverage of Brooklyn United for Innovative Local Development (BUILD).
After seeking taxpayer money to fulfill Bruce Ratner's promises to the community, BUILD's job training goals, though ambitious, may be difficult to fulfill since terms and conditions of the union's apprenticeship programs are beyond their control.
For one, BUILD's training program for union construction jobs would be so large--preparing 300 disadvantaged individuals a year, with about 230 of them actually finishing--that it would dominate the city's apprenticeship system. The union-run sytem typically offers 1,200 slots a year, just 35 percent, or 420, of which will be set aside for disadvantaged people, which is the category that BUILD's trainees would likely fall into.
The other thing is that while BUILD wants to give "priority enrollment" to "NYCHA residents, low-income individuals, moderate income individuals, disconnected young adults and young adults aging out of foster care," the Mayor and the unions have other priorities. They pledged last fall to give those 420 slots to graduates of public high schools, returning veterans and women, meaning that BUILD trainees may not find any space for them even in the new more progressive apprenticeship system.
Posted by lumi at July 6, 2006 8:15 AM