Workers, elected officials and community leaders will gather in Northeast Portland to acknowledge Workers Memorial Day on Monday, April 28 — and take part in a ceremonial groundbreaking on a new union-funded construction project.
The $43.2 million Lloyd District Commons is a six-story, multi-family apartment complex that will be located adjacent to the Oregon Convention Center at 330 Multnomah Street.
The project is funded by the AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust (BIT), and will be built, serviced and maintained 100 percent with union labor.
Construction is expected to be completed in July 2015.
Lloyd District Commons will have 186 rental apartments, 190 parking spaces, and 3,500 square feet of street-level retail space. Starbucks has already signed a lease for 1,850 square feet of space.
“It is very encouraging to see union pension dollars in Portland put to work to create hundreds of new jobs in our community. And Lloyd District Commons is something that workers can be especially proud of for this reason,” said John Mohlis, executive secretary of the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council.
Mike Stotz, president of the AFL-CIO Investment Trust Corporation, said that as the nation honors workers who died on the job, “it is essential that the labor movement lead by example and set the standard for good, safe, and skilled job creation. The AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust does this with all of its projects.”
The BIT has 10 projects currently in development across the country, with total development costs of approximately $1.1 billion. The projects are expected to create some 5,500 union jobs throughout the course of construction. Additionally, hundreds more union maintenance, retail, and service jobs will be created once those projects are completed.
Tom Chamberlain, president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, said projects such as those funded by the BIT create safe jobs, and safe jobs save lives.
“We know that strong training leads to safe jobs. The Lloyd District Commons is making sure the construction jobs we create in Portland are highly trained, with never-compromised, stringent, job-safety standards,” he said.
“It is essential that we do more — through legislation and through holding a few bad-acting employers accountable to address workers dying needlessly on the job each year,” said Bob Tackett, executive secretary-treasurer of the Northwest Oregon Labor Council.
“Workers Memorial Day puts a spotlight on this crisis, and projects like Lloyd District Commons are essential to demonstrate what the bar should be in terms of creating safe and healthy working conditions on construction projects.”
The memorial service and groundbreaking ceremony are sponsored by the Oregon AFL-CIO, the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, the Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council, the Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council, BIT, project developer Legacy Partners Residential, Inc., project manager Rembold Companies, PNC Realty Investors, Inc., and the AFL-CIO Investment Trust Corporation. The ceremony is slated to begin at 10 a.m. at the construction site, 330 NE Multnomah St. Portland.
