Pro-Labor Bill Becomes Law Without Mayor’s Signature (HI)

Posted by National Alliance for Fair Contracting on

Caldwell informed the council he wants to work on “legal concerns.”

By Chad Blair
Oct. 25, 2019

Legislation that requires union labor for all city public works projects of $2 million will become law at the end of May 2020.

In the interim, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell – who let Bill 37 become law without his signature – told the Honolulu City Council he wants to work with them to address “legal concerns.”

“I appreciate Councilmember Joey Manahan for introducing and working hard on Bill 37 along with other City Council members, as the goal of Community Workforce Agreements is to promote efficient and timely construction projects without disruptions and to do so using local labor,” the mayor said in a press release Friday.

He added: “I look forward to working with all of the stakeholders to resolve the legal concerns pertaining to this bill, including amending the bill where necessary and passing legislation at the state level, thus allowing all counties greater flexibility in implementing Community Workforce Agreements.”

Under the legislation, CWAs – also known as project labor agreements – will be used for all large public works contracts.

Bill 37 was widely supported by labor groups. But opponents – many nonunion contractors – said the bill will hurt their own businesses because it amounts to a sweetheart deal for unions.

In Caldwell’s letter to Council Chair Ikaika Anderson, the mayor wrote, “Unfortunately, the mandatory nature of Bill 37 goes beyond the enactment of enabling legislation and infringes upon the authority of the Executive branch to conduct procurements and negotiate an appropriate CWA to the benefit of the City.”

The mayor added, “It is my understanding that the proponents of Bill 37 will seek to address this concern during the upcoming 2020 State Legislative session by amending the State Procurement Code.”

Caldwell also expressed concern that federal funding “may be jeopardized” for projects “due to the inclusion of certain provisions that may not be appropriate for all contracts.”

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Your Turn: Project labor agreement needed in Worcester Red Sox deal (MA)

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By Frank Callahan
March 14, 2019

The city of Worcester, the Worcester Red Sox and Madison Downtown Holdings, a private developer, are building a $240-million downtown project that includes a new, $90-million, 10,000-seat stadium for the Boston Red Sox Triple-A Minor League affiliate team. Most see this as good news for the community. And it can be if the stakeholders embrace the use of a project labor agreement to ensure safety, equity and fairness for the workers who build the stadium.

Unfortunately, some contractor lobbying groups who advocate to pay workers lower wages are engaged in a cynical campaign aimed at ensuring the prosperity generated by this large proposal isn’t shared with the actual workers doing the work. They also don’t care if the project is done in the safest way possible, or with the best-trained workers possible.

Every fan sitting in that stadium over the decades that will follow its opening deserves to know that Worcester built its stadium in the safest way possible with the best-trained workforce. That’s just one reason why the union building trades are speaking up for a project labor agreement to ensure the safety of workers and the public in Worcester.

Project labor agreements, also called community workforce agreements or project stabilization agreements, emerged in the early 20th century as basic pre-hire agreements between the owner or contractor and the local building trades unions.

By the 1980s, these agreements were common in both the public and private sectors. Modern PLAs are negotiated on a case-by-case basis, and include sophisticated provisions that keep jobs running smoothly, promote efficiencies, and nurture the development of a skilled workforce. Most importantly, they prevent worker exploitation, wage theft and other illegal or unsafe acts that can harm local workers on a non-PLA job site.

For years, wealthy special interests have tried to undermine workers’ rights and advance narratives around the concepts of unions being outdated and unneeded. Despite the anti-worker spin promoted by organizations like the Merit Construction Alliance, public support for unions is growing. Meanwhile, union membership and the need for PLAs are also both on the rise in Massachusetts.

The building trade unions have been creating economic prosperity and a pathway to the middle class for workers throughout Central Massachusetts for generations. Right now, many Worcester area families could benefit from a good, union job in the construction industry.

Sadly, efforts are afoot in Worcester to lower safety, wage and training standards for working people on the new stadium project, putting Worcester workers at risk of losing life or limb, and in the position of earning less for the same work that is done elsewhere in the state. That simply would not be fair.

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