Help Build A Better Austin

Mayor and City Council Members

City of Austin

301 W. 2nd St. 2nd Floor

Austin, TX 78701

Dear Mayor Leffingwell and Council Members:

We represent a broad base of faith-based organizations, responsible businesses, community groups, unions, legal organizations, and individuals. We are writing to express our concern over unsafe and inhumane working conditions in Austin’s construction industry. A recent study published by the Workers Defense Project about Austin construction working conditions describes how the city has been built on a foundation of illegal workplace practices, including:

• Failure to be paid. One in five workers were denied payment for their construction work in Austin, and for many of these individuals this resulted in the inability to pay for food and housing.
• High rates of dangerous and unsafe working conditions. One in five surveyed construction workers has suffered a workplace injury that required medical attention. Sixty-four percent of surveyed workers lacked basic health and safety training, 41% received no rest breaks, 27% had no drinking water, and many were forced to provide their own safety equipment.

These poor conditions have a direct impact on all Austinites. Unfortunately, when unscrupulous employers break the rules they undercut good construction businesses. Furthermore, employers who attempt to cut costs by engaging in poor and illegal workplace practices do so at the expense of taxpayers who are forced to pick up the bill. On the other hand, responsible employers, help create necessary and good jobs, and they have a positive impact on the local communities in which they operate.

We believe Austin is one of the best cities in the country, in no small part because of the hard work our city’s construction men and women who help build our city. We urge you to work with organizations such as Workers Defense Project and the Build a Better Austin Coalition to find community-based solutions to ensure safe and humane construction working conditions.

Thank you for taking the time to consider this important issue. We eagerly await your response in addressing these working conditions.

Respectfully,

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