A Bronx-based contractor is charged with defrauding the Uniondale school district of millions of dollars.
Now, Long Island labor unions are pushing a new law to prevent future school district fraud.
Outraged union leaders and elected officials gathered in front of the Uniondale school district headquarters on Aug. 15 to raise the alarm about what they say is a pattern of local school districts awarding multi-million dollar contracts to questionable contractors who break the law and pocket Long Island tax dollars despite refusing to hire Long Island workers.
The Uniondale school district entrusted the bulk of $150 million in construction projects to Borough Construction Group, which provided the lowest bid, despite warnings that the company had a history of wage theft and labor violations, said Vinnie Alu of Laborers Local 66.
The warnings may have proved true. BWC Construction, a subcontractor hired by Borough, allegedly falsified payroll documents required to secure the Uniondale job and nearly $2 million in payments from the school district.
BWC’s president, Nigel Joseph from New Jersey, paid his workers “poverty wages” and “pocket[ed] the difference,” Alu said.
“The contractors that built this island, built these public schools and done this public work for generations are no longer bidding on the work, because we can’t compete with the pirates!” Alu shouted, surrounded by fellow union workers.
Joseph was arrested last month and charged in a 14-count complaint by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, with multi-million dollar fraud, identity theft, and tax evasion.
Rather than pay the more than $3.5 million he owed the state in taxes, Joseph allegedly used the funds for courtside NBA tickets, a Rolex, a Mercedes, two BMWs, tropical vacations, and more.
Alu said the Uniondale school district has now gone millions over budget to bring in responsible local contractors to “fix the mess.”
But for the gathered leaders, the question remained — why weren’t Long Island workers hired to do Long Island work in the first place?
They argued that school districts’ pattern of hiring out-of-state contractors for public projects succeeds only in draining more Long Island tax dollars from local communities and families.
Local leaders have proposed a solution: a law requiring that Long Island school districts enter a project labor agreement providing union-level wages and insurance for any construction projects costing $1 million or more.
“When we talk about making sure we build opportunity for our fellow Long Islanders, why not do it through good-paying union jobs?” asked state Assembly Member Michaelle Solages (D-Elmont). “We know that when a union does the work, they do it efficiently, they do it right the first time, and they don’t require these construction companies that are thinking about profit first, then the people of Long Island.”
On top of its main selling points that supporters highlight — keeping tax dollars in Long Island and making sure construction is done safely in schools — the bill has one rare superpower: bipartisan support.
“What this will do is guarantee that the money stays here in New York,” said state Assembly Member Michael Durso (R-Massapequa Park). “It will guarantee that these hardworking men and women of labor will have jobs. This will guarantee and make sure that New York State taxpayer money is going to the right place. And as far as I’m concerned, this is the right place, right here.”
“Whether you’re Republican or Democrat in the Assembly, we all support this,” he said. “This is a Long Island issue.”
Durso and Solages were joined by state Assembly Members Judy Griffin, Jake Blumencranz and Jodi Giglio and state Senators Mario Mattera, Jack Martins and Steve Rhodes.
While the bill was successfully passed in the Senate — at 3 a.m. on the last day of the 2025 session — and is ready for Hochul’s desk, the corresponding Assembly proposal failed to make its way to the floor before the end of the session. The leaders say they plan to push this bill through as soon as the 2026 session convenes in January.
The legislation would help secure a future for young families on Long Island, supporters said.
“If you want your kids and your grandkids to remain local and not move down South for lack of work opportunity, this bill will create it,” said Alan Foley of the Long Island Federation of Labor. “This bill will ensure generations of Long Islanders … the ability to remain on Long Island. That is the backbone of the American dream. Unions are that backbone.
“We need to pass this bill in order to ensure that for the rest of Long Island and our children.”
