Cornell Study Shows Partnerships Between Employers, Labor and Community Groups Work
A new study suggests one path to helping people struggling in today’s economy find their way into the middle class, via Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) for large-scale construction projects. Among the most successful PLAs, the Cornell University study found, are those that incorporate Community Workforce Agreements born of partnerships between community organizations, unions and employers. Community workforce provisions require the hiring of local residents on construction projects, and often target specific populations, including low-income people, women and veterans.
The best of these programs, according to the report, incorporate paid apprenticeships for those who have never worked before in the building trades, which add the longer-term bonus of helping to create a skilled workforce in a given community.
Among the report’s key findings, according to a summary from American Rights at Work:
Congress Thwarts Another Round of Attacks on Workers
Tom Trotter in the AFL-CIO Legislation Department sends the following.
A group of House Republicans, led by Steven LaTourette (R-Ohio) and Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.), yesterday joined every Democrat except Dan Boren of Oklahoma, in defeating attacks on Davis-Bacon (prevailing wage) and Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) on key appropriation bills moving through Congress. Both Davis-Bacon and PLAs are instrumental in making sure that federally funded projects create good jobs and are done by using skilled labor, are completed on time and on budget.
See how your representative voted.
Click here for the anti-Davis-Bacon amendment vote. A “No” vote was a vote for workers.
Click here for the anti-PLA amendment vote. A “No” vote was a vote for workers.
New Boston Green PLA Means Jobs, Clean Energy Homes
It’s going to be a bit crowded and quite green in the winners’ circle created by a new Project Labor Agreement (PLA) in Boston to retro-fit more than 4,000 older area apartments.
Not only will it put hundreds of area construction workers on the job, residents, many of them lower-income families will see lower utility bills, young people will have new job training opportunities and the energy savings will lighten the apartments’ carbon footprint.
The “greening” of the 4,300 units will include installing energy efficient lighting, converting electric heat to gas, upgrading or replacing old central heating plants, installing co-generation and a rooftop photovoltaic electric system, Energy Star rated fiberglass windows, high reflective “cool” roof membrane, replacing water closets, showerheads and faucet aerators and healthy apartment improvements.
The $63 million PLA is between the Boston Housing Authority (BHA), the Boston Building and Construction Trades Council (BBCTC) and the construction firm, Ameresco.
At this week’s groundbreaking ceremony, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino pointed to the job and job training segments of the PLA.
In this economy we need agreements like this to keep construction going, get people trained and working, I’m proud to be able to create good paying union jobs for Boston residents. Read the rest of this entry »
Iowa Gov. Won’t Launch Wisconsin-Like Assault on Rights, But Other Threats Remain
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Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R ) says he will not mount an all-out attack on public workers’ right to bargain for middle class jobs like his fellow Republican governors Scott Walker in Wisconsin and John Kasich in Ohio.
“This is not Wisconsin. It’s Iowa,” he told reporters. But he is backing legislation that while not as sweeping as that in Wisconsin and Ohio, would weaken public workers collective bargaining rights.
Also when he took office in January, Branstad issued an executive order banning the use of project labor agreements (PLA) on any construction project that receives state funding.
That has lead to a stand off between Branstad and the city of Cedar Rapids that in December included a PLA for a $75 million convention center complex due to receive $15 million in state funds. The city says the PLA was authorized before Branstad’s order and the governor says he will not release the funds.
PLAs are pre-hire agreements between labor and management. The agreements require all construction jobs to be filled by local workers, include diversity requirements, establish wages and work rules covering overtime, working hours and dispute resolution and ensure that safety guidelines on the job site are enforced.
Obama Project Labor Order Implemented Today
During his first month in office, President Obama issued an executive order encouraging agencies to require the use of project labor agreements (PLAs) on large-scale construction projects. Today, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (FAR) issued the final rule that implements the order.
Says Mark Ayers, president of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department:
Contrary to claims by those who oppose these agreements—who subscribe to a “race to the bottom” mentality, where success is predicated on the ability to assemble a low-wage, easily exploitable workforce—PLAs have proven over and over that they are a valuable, market-based tool that ensures superior jobsite management, project efficiencies, and workforce productivity and development.
Project Labor Agreements Work for Workers and Communities
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For more than 70 years, project labor agreements (PLAs) benefited communities, employers and workers by ensuring fair wages and benefits and on-time completion of local, state and federal construction projects. PLAs, also known as Community Workforce Agreements, generally set wages and establish work rules and methods of settling grievances on large multi-contractor construction projects
But in one of his first acts as president, George W. Bush issued an executive order in 2001 banning the use of PLAs on federal projects.
This past February, President Barack Obama reversed the Bush order and restored the use of PLAs. His action sent anti-worker construction groups and companies into a tizzy, with the latest battle centering on a $30 million Job Corps Center in Manchester, N.H.
Obama Overturns Bush Exec. Order on Project Labor Agreements
The men and women in the nation’s building and construction trades won a major victory today when President Obama signed an executive order overturning the Bush administration’s ban on project labor agreements (PLAs) on federal and federally funded construction.
The ban was one of the first orders signed by former President George W. Bush when he took office in 2001. Mark H. Ayers, president of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD), praised Obama’s action, saying:
The Bush anti-PLA executive order was exactly the type of special interest-driven politics and policy that American voters rejected overwhelmingly last November.
We acknowledge and praise this executive order as being one of the first steps in ushering in a new, more pragmatic and value-conscious approach to governing.
