Amazon’s “last mile” warehouse in Sioset will be built by about 250 workers, all members of the union, officials said Friday.
The $ 72 million project is one of at least nine warehouses where a giant retailer plans to deliver packages to customers’ front doors on Long Island. Amazon will rent a 204,000-square-foot building in Sioset from two developers.
“Amazon will use 100% union labor during construction,” according to a statement from Nassau County and labor authorities. “This decision by Amazon is a huge victory for Long Island’s construction industry and our economy.”
The statement was issued in November by Nassau County executive Laura Curran seeking reelection. Richard Kessel, chairman of the county’s Industrial Development Agency, who gave warehouse developers a tax cut, and Matthew Alasic, chairman of the Nassau-Suffolk Building, Construction and Trade Council, a group under the union.
This announcement follows intense lobbying by the Building Trade Council. At the Nassau IDA meeting last month, local 361 representatives of the Ironworks Union expressed concern that some of the warehousing operations would go to non-union contractors outside the state.
John Kush, a business agent for the Ironworks Association, has asked IDA to revoke the tax deductions granted to developer Syosset Park Development LLC “until Amazon complies with the rules.” The Syosset Central School District estimates that the 15-year tax subsidy is estimated at about $ 8 million.
In a statement on Friday, county and union officials committed to “Long Island’s skilled and experienced union workforce with a proven track record of providing quality work completed with the highest workplace safety standards within budget. Thanks to Amazon for giving me. “
An Amazon spokeswoman did not immediately respond to the request for comment.
The warehouse is in the old Cerro Wire property, which is the subject of multiple proposals. All of these died in the face of community opposition.
According to IDA’s tax cut application, the Amazon project will employ up to 250 construction workers.
When the facility opens, it will hire 150 managers and package handlers, earning at least $ 15 per hour and $ 60,000 per year, respectively. In addition, the application states that hundreds of jobs will be created by independent carriers where van drivers receive packages for delivery.
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