New panel to recommend city diversity targets on union construction projects costing over $5 million
Bill Bush | The Columbus Dispatch
Nov. 15, 2022
The Columbus City Council on Monday created a nine-member committee designed to make recommendations on adding goals for hiring female, minority and local workers on larger city construction projects that utilize “project labor agreements,” which are pre-hire agreements with trade unions.
The new Community Benefits Agreement Advisory Committee will make nonbinding recommendations to the mayor on when such inclusion goals should be sought from construction companies and labor unions. But it doesn’t appear the city will have to worry about unwelcome proposals: four of the nine members will represent the mayor’s office or various departments under the mayor, while the fifth and deciding member will represent City Council.
The other four committee members will represent trade unions and “groups historically underrepresented” in the construction industry, the ordinance says.
The committee can also review plans and make recommendations on how newly constructed facilities get used, and on mitigation of the effects of construction on the neighborhood. It can make recommendations on dedicating green space, sports courts and occasional uses of the new space for art or youth programming, the ordinance says.
“This new chapter will promote a diverse workforce, efficient construction timelines, greater consideration of environmental impacts, and overall community benefits related to large city construction projects and renovation projects,” Council member Rob Dorans, who is employed as an attorney for a labor union, said during the meeting.