421-a: Good for the owners, bad for the workers

New York City has a housing program known as 421-a. The program grants about $1.1 billion in tax breaks each year to owners of some apartment buildings which have 50 or more apartments. The tax breaks are not chickenfeed; they are at least in the hundred thousands. In return for the cut in taxes owners must pay service employees the “prevailing wage” — a rate set by the city comptroller that is benchmarked to union contracts so that non-union workers get comparable pay for similar work. Paying less than the law requires can subject employers to losing their tax break. But most owners have not paid the prevailing wage and the city has done nothing about this non-payment.