As Silicon Valley’s real estate market booms, benefiting homeowners, landlords and developers, some labor activists say one group isn’t reaping its fair share of the profits: local construction workers.
A proposed ballot measure for San Jose seeks to change that. If supporters gather enough signatures, and then voters approve the measure in November, the “Build Better San Jose” initiative would require developers of large, private projects to hire more local workers, and pay them better.
“Workers are not paid enough to be able to afford to live in the area,” said Louise Auerhahn, director of economic and workforce policy for labor think tank Working Partnerships USA, which helped draft the measure.
