Endorsements

"The housing crisis is a grave risk to America's middle and working classes. Millions of workers, especially workers who don't have unions, are paid too little to afford housing in their region. The residential construction industry makes matters worse by too often building non-union. Unions can help lead the fight for more affordable, union-built housing so that the people who build the homes can afford to buy them. That is why I agreed to join the New England Labor Housing Initiative's advisory board. With a focus on building worker power as well as housing and job opportunities for the unhoused, this initiative can experiment, propose innovative policies, and change how we think about solving the housing crisis in a sustainable way for working people."

Seth Harris, Director, Initiative on Labor and Economic Justice at Northeastern University’s Burnes Center for Social Change, Former Acting US Secretary of Labor, Former Labor Advisor for President Biden

“The New England Labor Housing Initiative is arriving at the right place at the right time. New England’s housing crisis is severe and labor unions must be part of the solution. We look forward to working with the Initiative to find pro-worker solutions to the crisis.”

Cynthia Phinney, President, Maine AFL-CIO

“Let's be clear: neither policymakers nor developers build affordable housing; actual construction workers do. We will never solve the housing crisis if we perpetuate policies that put profits and politics over people, and we're never going to truly address affordability if we can't bring ourselves to use 'lower costs' and 'higher wages' in the same sentence. That's why the partnership between Maine's Building Trades Unions and the New England Labor Housing Initiative is so important. By collaborating to identify holistic solutions, we can address this critical issue and ensure we have a well-compensated, skilled and sustainable union workforce to do it. I look forward to our work together. Those who support "the way we've always done it" should not.”

Jason J. Shedlock, President, Maine State Building & Construction Trades Council

"The major cause of homelessness is poverty. We have to think about creating economic opportunities for people trapped in low wage jobs. This is how we will make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring. The New England Labor Housing Initiative is leaning into cross sector collaboration and it is exactly what's needed to address an intractable problem like homelessness."

Dr. Katie Spencer White, President/CEO at Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter & Services; Lecturer at the Roux Institute, Northeastern University