The City is in the beginning construction of the second phase main power plant. If the plant is not finished by 2010, city staff believed that demand for energy would be more than supply. The result of this is predicted to be rolling blackouts.
In order to get the project finished on time the staff recommended a project labor agreement. The staff also thought that a project labor agreement would increase the number of local residents participating in the project. Specifically the first phase had been built with labor from other areas. HOW IS THAT FOR MAKING TAX DOLLARS WORK!!!
While it is a little unclear as to whether or not there will be a PLA in the end the city council agreed to the following terms.
Lastly the article had the best printed description of the PLA process I have seen in the press:Solicit bids from union and nonunion contractors, with or without a project labor agreements.
Require all bidders to provide detailed information on the type and quality of local skilled labor they will use on the project.
Ask bidders to provide other community-benefit proposals that the council may consider in awarding the construction contract, such as job training and apprenticeship programs.
Bring in a third party to ensure the winning contractor pays prevailing wage and complies in general with the contract.
The compromise also included a call for participation by the contractor in the "Helmets to Hardhats" program, which helps military service members transition from active duty to careers in construction.
A project labor agreement does not require the use of contractors whose employees are unionized but it does require all workers on a project to receive union wages and benefits while working on the project.Its about time!
3 comments:
The article goes onto say that (paraphrasing) that employees of non-union companies participating on the project must join the appropriate union and pay dues and into the benefit program.
So your "best" description of a PLA is very misleading.
You are right while on the project the workers earn union wages and benefits.
In my opinion, it is a concise definition of what a PLA is. My main point is that most news paper articles describe PLA's as "union only". This implies that non union contractors can not bid, win and execute work on projects covered by a PLA. This is not true.
There are many components of PLAs that are not in that definition such as "no strike" clauses and apprenticeship and local hiring requirements. The wages and benefits structure is another component of the overall agreement that varies.
A project labor agreement mandates that al workforce join the union and pay union dues. In the Riverside PLA it states "all workers performing covered work will become members in good standing on the 8th day of covered work". Therefore they must pay union dues and abide by the collective bargaining agreement. In the agreement they gree to forfeit all pension benefits if they do not stay in the union long enough to vest which is 5 years. Non union construction workers traditionally have 401.k plans which are immediatelty transportable. Further, they must work 350 hours in order to receive medical benefits. Which is not the case in open shop. They must go through union hiring halls in hopes they are placed back with their original employer (so much for local employment).
Jackie Nutting
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