Don’t Union Lives Matter?

News broke this week that the City Council won’t vote on the “construction safety” bill before the Sept. 12 primary. Maybe that will give the sponsors time to come up with a measure worthy of the label.

The latest version gives away its real purpose by exempting current union members from mandatory safety training. In other words, it’s not about safety, but about boosting union workers at the expense of the competition.

As was the case with the first iteration, back in January. Introduced by Brooklyn Councilman Jumaane Williams and 47 cosponsors, that one sought to mandate apprentice training for all construction workers — essentially unionizing non-union workers.

Now the requirement is only for 59 hours of safety training — but contains that bizarre grandfather clause. Either union mem- bers’ lives don’t matter, or Williams & Co. don’t really think the training will save lives.

As it happens, the sponsors cite no proof that added safety classes (the feds already require 10 hours) will reduce accidents and deaths at construction sites.

John Banks, president of the Real Estate Board of NY, has proposed 30 hours of training, plus mandatory drug and alcohol testing, for all construction workers. Does Williams think impaired workers aren’t a danger?

Plainly, the council is eager to please the building-trades unions: They’re mounting a major effort to recover work that has passed to non-union shops in recent decades — even though Gov. Cuomo’s massive publicworks projects have created ample demand for union jobs.

Oh, well: The silver lining for the politicians in this delay is that the donations and other campaign help will keep coming in as long as the issue hangs in the balance.