Building Trades News

Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency Endorses Historic Project Labor Agreement

$15 Billion Agreement Could be Finalized in 90 Days Amidst an overflowing room of over 150 Building Trades and community members, developers and contractors, the Board of Commissioners of the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles voted on Feb. 21 to negotiate a Project Labor Agreement with the Los Angeles/Orange County Building Trades Council worth $15 billion. The language of the PLA has not been finalized. Once the language is agreed upon, it will be brought back before the CRA/LA Board. The proposal must also be approved by the Los Angeles City Council. A final agreement could be reached within the next 90 days. Those projects subject to the agreement will include the LA/CRA’s own public improvement contracts, and private development projects on CRA-owned land or in which the agency has a direct investment. In his testimony before the Board, Robbie Hunter, President of Ironworkers 433 emphasized the long track record of successful PLA’s in Los Angeles. “We have project labor agreements all over the place, whether it be with LAUSD or the new police headquarters. You can see how fast that headquarters went up; we’re ahead of schedule. You can also see the workers on that steel are reflective of the population of Los Angeles.” In addition to ensuring a skilled labor force that is well paid and receives good benefits, PLA’s also present an opportunity to train locally-hired apprentices for long-term employment in the construction industry. “We have dozens of project labor agreements with the city of Los Angeles on every kind of project you can imagine—whether it’s been the airport, hospitals, or schools, the Building Trades crafts have participated in outreach programs bringing local community residents into apprenticeship programs and training them for careers, not just jobs,” said LA/OC BCTC Executive Secretary Richard Slawson. Slawson said that combining PLA’s with local hire requirements was not new and the Building Trades Council has a successful record of such agreements, citing examples of the city of Los Angeles, LAUSD and the Los Angeles Community College District. “Every place we have partnered with a public agency or private developer, [our craft unions] and contractors have succeeded in bringing in the targeted percentages of local residents into career opportunities.” The CRA policy is the result of more than two years of work by craft union representatives and the Building Trades Council. “Look at the broad coalition we have here today. We are business, community-based organizations, contractors, non-profits, developers, clergy and labor, all united to bring a new opportunity to all parts of the city,” said Kevin Norton, Director of Organizing for IBEW Local 11. “In this room you see the basis for a united Los Angeles.” Robert Smith, Political Director for the IUPAT, District Council 36 said that the process that brought developers, contractors and labor together, all of whom put in the effort to make sure that the final policy would benefit all of the stakeholders. “This is good for the community and it’s really good for the youth in our communities.” “All things are achievable if the opportunity exists,” added UA 250 Business Representative Vincent Burr. “Today [CRA] commissioners have the chance to make those opportunities exist.” Typically, Project Labor Agreements are project-specific agreements whereby developers agree to hire primarily through Building Trade Council union hiring halls and implement a good labor relations policy. Kent Wong, Executive Director at the UCLA Labor Center, explained: “Our research shows, quite simply, that unions are more successful at recruiting, training and graduating individuals from low-income communities, people of color and women than non-union contractors. Therefore, we’ve concluded – and we were anxious to share this with the Board – that in order to realistically implement a local hiring policy that successfully pulls those folks and the communities targeted by the CRA, into this industry, this policy needs to be carried out through a Project Labor Agreement.” The Board heard from several workers whose lives were transformed by the opportunities provided by craft union apprenticeship programs.  John Harriel, a 38-year old IBEW 11 member faced enormous challenges growing up in South Los Angeles – and ended up serving a time in prison.  Now, Harriel is a foreman supervising a crew of 13 workers: “This work is exciting and rewarding because it positively impacts lives.  I’m well-trained, well-paid and happy with how I’m able to contribute to my community.”

 

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