Boston panel: strong gains on race and pay categories but city lags on residents in construction jobs

Boston City Council members and labor staff on April 18 reviewed new data and enforcement work under the Boston Residents' Jobs Policy, finding the city has improved representation by people of color on construction sites but still falls short of the ordinance's residency and women‑employment targets.

“On April 15 we are 40% people of color, 6.7% women, and 23.5% Boston residents,” said Jody Sugarman Brossan, Deputy Chief of Worker Empowerment and head of the Office of Labor Compliance and Worker Protections, pointing to a public dashboard the city published for BRJP compliance. Christopher Brown, manager for the BRJP monitoring office, told the committee that the office monitored 148 projects from October 2024 through March 2025 and that the six‑month audit covered roughly 5 million total work hours, with an aggregate of about 21% Boston resident hours, roughly 42% people of color and about 7% women.

The discrepancy between the real‑time dashboard snapshot and the six‑month monitoring totals was highlighted by councilors during the hearing. “That data shows we are still missing out — the compliance rate is low,” said Michael Endale, senior data analyst at the Boston Planning Department, summarizing his department’s economic brief that estimated millions of lost resident work hours and tens of millions of dollars in foregone earnings if BRJP goals are not met.

Panelists reviewed how the policy is enforced and the limits on enforcement. Sugarman Brossan and Brown described the BRJP enforcement tools: seven administrative compliance requirements (attendance at preconstruction meetings, production of workforce projections and weekly certified payroll, referrals to the Jobs Bank, corrective action meetings and related records) and penalties of up to $300 per day for administrative violations. They stressed the office cannot levy fines for failing to meet the policy's numeric hiring goals (51% of journeyperson hours to Boston residents, 40% to people of color, 12% to women); compliance penalties apply only to the ordinance’s administrative requirements.

Staff said the Jobs Bank — the city referral tool intended to connect Boston residents and contractors — had 325 registered jobseekers as of January (159 registered as both Boston residents and people of color, 120 as Boston residents only, 34 as people of color only, 61 women). Since 2022 the Jobs Bank had received 69 labor requests; staff said vetting and follow‑through remain challenges and that only 22 registrants had submitted resumes through the system by the new counts compiled this year.

Unions on the second panel told the committee they are investing in outreach, apprenticeship seats and partnerships with groups such as Building Pathways and Madison Park High School to build a longer pipeline into union careers. Jose (Josue/Josh) Pierre, diversity, equity and inclusion coordinator for IBEW Local 103, said, “These aren't just numbers. We're talking about lives and generations that can potentially change because of these jobs.” Frank (last name not specified), speaking for Ironworkers Local 7, emphasized the practical benefits of local hiring: “Living where you work is a very, very important thing.”

Councilors and staff discussed policy changes to improve accountability and outcomes. Staff and several councilors raised two reforms they are studying or testing: (1) creating a project‑level scoring rubric or ‘‘scorecard’’ that would publish BRJP performance at project closeout and could be used in procurement evaluations; and (2) expanding project labor agreements and apprenticeship supports (including a proposed public‑private training center in Nubian Square/Roxbury) to grow the pool of Boston residents prepared for higher‑paying trades. Brown told the committee the office is exploring ways to use Salesforce monitoring data to identify late payroll and other administrative noncompliance more quickly and to present recommendations for fines to the Boston Employment Commission when appropriate.

Public testimony was limited to one speaker, John Provenzano, a former union officer, who praised union safety and urged officials to press for worker protections. The committee heard repeated calls from council members to study whether workforce housing, stronger apprenticeship pipelines and project labor agreements could help reverse the drop in resident participation.

The committee did not adopt any new ordinances or votes during the hearing. Staff committed to returning with additional trade‑level breakdowns, wage data where available (prevailing wage jobs), and options for a performance rubric that could be posted with project closeout materials.

The hearing closed with committee chair Councilor Benjamin Weber thanking staff, union leaders and colleagues and adjourning the hearing.