By Kim Slowey
Aug. 23, 2018
Dive Brief:
- The Sacramento City Council voted Tuesday to amend its city code and adopt the contentious, according to the Sacramento Bee, Local Hire and Community Workforce Training Program, which requires contractors to use a 50% local workforce on most city-funded projects of $1 million or more.
- The program also requires that 20% of apprentices on covered projects be “priority apprentices,” who live in economically disadvantaged areas or are veterans, prior offenders, recipients of public assistance, foster youths, homeless or women. The new ordinance also requires that 50% of the budgets for two major city projects, including the renovation of the Sacramento Convention Center, be spent with local businesses in certain counties and that 15% of those businesses be small, regional enterprises.
- In the sample agreement included on the city council’s agenda is “Contractor(s) performing construction work on the project described in the agreement shall, in filling craft job requirements, utilize and be bound by the registration facilities and referral systems established or authorized by the local unions,” a provision which some nonunion contractors argue will hinder their participation in city work. Proponents of the agreement, however, said that nonunion contractors perform around 60% of city work and that nonunion workers can simply register with the unions so that they can be included in the local hire program.
Dive Insight:
Unlike some other local hire mandates, Sacramento’s gives contractors an out of sorts by allowing them to hire from any source if unions cannot provide them with the necessary workers within 48 hours of a request. On the other end of the spectrum was the Detroit workforce requirement for contractors performing services during construction of the Little Caesars arena. The city fined construction companies that didn’t meet the 51% local hire requirements a total of $5.2 million. The Sacramento ordinance does not include such punitive measures for failing to meet the goals.