Gary LaBarbera – President, New York State and the New York City Building and Construction Trades Councils

Gary LaBarbera serves as president of the Building and Construction Trades Council (BCTC) of Greater New York. He is also president of the New York State Building and Construction Trades Council.

LaBarbera has negotiated numerous project labor agreements (PLAs) that provide labor cost savings on major public and private projects––his leadership at BCTC has resulted more than $100 billion in public sector PLAs with the city of New York and the New York City School Construction Authority, saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

Before his tenure as president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, LaBarbera supported organized labor in several other capacities, including as president of the New York City Central Labor Council, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Joint Council 16, and president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 282.

Having been actively involved in the Teamsters since the early 1980s, LaBarbera was one of the first members of Local 282 to graduate from the Labor Studies Program at Cornell University’s School of Industrial Labor Relations in 1994.

“The modern goal of the unionized construction industry is to provide family-sustaining careers to hardworking people of all backgrounds and promote diversity within the trades,” LaBarbera told the Amsterdam News in recognition of his being named a Labor Award honoree. “We are always striving to achieve that by advocating for better wages and safer working conditions for our tradesmen and tradeswomen, and creating accessible training opportunities through our apprenticeship programs.

“It is an honor to be recognized by the Amsterdam News for this important work. In the Building Trades, diversity has become our strength, and we take immense pride in that. We remain committed to continuing to provide all working-class New Yorkers with fulfilling and good-paying career opportunities that open pathways to the middle class and create much-needed economic stimulus within our underserved communities.”