Order for a hearing on the safety of construction sites in the City of Boston.
Thank you. Docket 0398. Order for a hearing on the safety of construction sites and the city of Boston. Chair now recognizes Councilor Julia McTeer, chair of the Committee on Small Business and Workforce Development. Chair Here, the floor is yours. Thank you, Mr. President. And thank you to the sponsors of this hearing order. On Monday, the Committee on Small Business and Workforce Development held a hearing on Docket 0398 order up for a hearing on the safety of construction sites. We were joined by two of the sponsors of this docket. Counselor Breeden and Counselor Flynn, who also spoke on behalf of our third sponsor, Counselor Flaherty. We were also joined by counsel, not from the administration. We were joined by IAC commissioner Sean Leon. I always. LYDEN Brian Doran, a building inspector with ESD, in addition to superintendents Gerald Bailey and Marcus adding from the Boston Police Department. From the Advocate's panel, we were joined by Myla Perez of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters. The hearing came about as a result of several reports of construction sites, accidents throughout the city, including a worker who was tragically struck and killed in 2019 while setting up our first night celebration. During the hearing. Commissioner. The Lion spelled out the current inspection process to ensure worker safety, which involves several stages of inspection during all phases of construction process. Contracts for contractors were also supposed to sign a marriage health Higgins affidavit, which requires the contractor to disclose any previous OSHA violations. This hearing was a great opportunity to learn about the current standards. But even one death of a construction worker is far too many, and there's a need to revisit the existing inspection process and make changes. For that reason, we are going to keep this hearing order in committee and hold a working session in the future to build upon our existing infrastructure. Thank you. Thank you very much, Councilman. Here, the chair now recognizes the lead sponsor, the district council from South Boston, Councilor Flynn. The floor is yours. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President, and want to say thank you. Special thank you to council here for conducting an excellent hearing on this important topic. I also want to say I say thank you to my co-sponsors as well. Counsel of Clarity and counsel of Counsel Braden. And that counselor summed it up best. But one issue I did want to highlight. Was the issue of wage theft that continues to happen in our city. I know it's an issue that Councilor Edwards has worked on for many years. I know it's an issue that the attorney general, Maura Healey, continues to work on as well. But when we're exploiting workers by not paying them a fair wage, that also includes workers that don't have safety in the workplace as well. So not not only are we exploiting workers, but we're putting their health and welfare in danger and their families as well. We have a lot of work to do in this city. It's unconscionable for a construction company to come into Boston, to work in Boston, and to not pay their workers a decent wage. But it's also unconscionable to not provide workers a safe working conditions. So I want to say thank you to my friend Miner Perez from the Carpenters Union, but also the the Boston Building trades as well, who continue to focus on safety in the workplace. That's the number one critical issue, making sure. Workers are safe and protected. And that that also means that pedestrians and cyclists that happened to be in the area, as well as neighbors, are also safe from a construction site. So, again, wanted to say thank you to my colleague, council me here for conducting a very informative meeting. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Counselor Flynn. Docket number 0398 shall remain in the Committee on Small Business and Workforce Development. Moving right along, Madam Clerk, would you now please read docket 0562.