Organized Labor

Necessity of Skilled Workers, On-Time Projects Cited

By Paul Burton
Contributing Writer

The San Francisco Board of Education approved a proposal by SF Unified School District Superintendent Carlos Garcia June 24 to adopt a Project Labor Agreement between the District and the SF Building and Construction Trades Council for a percentage of the construction work to be done under Prop A. Several construction union members spoke in support of the PLA, which was passed unanimously by the five board members present. (Board members Hydra Mendoza and Kim Shree-Maufus were absent.)

Prop. A, passed in 2006, provided the SFUSD with $450 million in general-obligation bonds to continue its building improvement work, including meeting disability-access requirements and health and safety codes, and rehabilitating the buildings and grounds of 64 schools in the SFUSD. It followed a 2003 $295 million bond measure to modernize 30 schools and to set aside $15 million for a proposed building for the School of the Arts. Work under the 2003 bond was also covered by a PLA.

At the school board meeting, SFUSD legal counsel Phillip Henderson and Chief Facilities Officer David Goldin recommended adopting the PLA. Goldin read the supporting resolution, which states in part, "It is critical that those projects be completed on time for purposes of effectively operating schools and to avoid the increased costs caused by construction delay," and "the projects require skilled, qualified craft and trade persons to meet the demands of the construction and renovation work…"

SFBCTC Executive Secretary-Treasurer Mike Theriault testified that the District would benefit from the PLA because it "will bring people into the construction trades and apprenticeship programs from San Francisco schools," providing stable, well-paying jobs for city residents.

Theriault thanked the Board of Education for its support and said that all of the craft and building trades unions were ready to work to ensure that the construction projects meet their budgets and timelines.

Jeffrey Phillips, Business Representative with IBEW Local 6 testified before the Board in favor of the PLA. "Having skilled labor is important so that you know that the work is done right, that sprinklers will go off in case of a fire." He said that with the additional work there would be opportunities for San Francisco youth. "I've been in every neighborhood and heard from young people who want to be in our apprenticeship programs. They want a better life with fair, decent wages. I believe that the PLA will open up a lot of secure and good jobs."

John Huang of Local 6 also testified in favor of the PLA. "I want my kids to go to a school that is well-built and safe." He responded to the Asian-American Contractors Assoc. (AACA), noting that "Unions include many minorities and allow opportunities for our advancement in the trades."

Dave Figueroa of Glaziers Local 718 said that as a city native he wanted to see other San Franciscans have the opportunity to earn union wages. "Union wages support my family and will enable my daughter to go to college," he said.

"The PLA guarantees that the workers are treated fairly. The worker who gets injured will be taken care of." Figueroa added that his union includes every minority group and works with minority-owned and women-owned union contractors.

Ironworkers local 377 Business Agent John Rocha and Tony Rodriguez of Sprinkler Fitters local 483 said that the PLA provides a living wage for craft workers. "Construction workers, just like teachers, need a living wage to be able to afford to live in the city," said Rodriquez. "We are the parents of the District's students. The PLA protects the living standards of people who live and work in San Francisco."
The PLA will ensure that all workers on the construction projects are employed under fair and equitable employment conditions. It also provides a mechanism for resolving disputes "for the benefit of efficient construction, stable employment relations, and the avoidance of delay."

Charles Ramsey of the West Contra Costa County School District Board also spoke in favor of the PLA. "It's exciting what you are doing, especially with including youth and internships," he said. "This is a very well-negotiated agreement that puts the District on the cutting edge." He said that as PLAs were being adopted throughout the Bay Area, it was important to point out that PLAs do not raise costs. He pointed to one project in which a unionized contractor's bid was lower than non-union firms.

Members of the BOE spoke favorably about adopting the PLA. "It's been a long road and I'm glad we are finally here," said Jill Wynns. "I'm sorry we weren't able to have this PLA in 2006. It has always been my position that public funds should be spent on the best quality work, with good jobs and benefits. That is what we should teach our children."

"I'm convinced that the PLA carves out a fair share for small businesses," said Eric Mar. He said he wanted to see workers receive good benefits and pensions and that he was "proud that the internship and apprenticeship part is built in." He added that both union and non-union construction companies hire people of color. Mar also said he wanted to see the AACA have a role and asked whether projects could be broken up into smaller components to enable smaller contractors to bid on them successfully.

The SFUSD's Goldin answered that, "It's to the District's advantage to aggregate projects rather than break them up. It takes as much to manage a small project as a large one, so we are moving in the direction of larger projects." He added that there were also projects not funded under the 2003 and 2006 bonds that were open to all for bids.

BOE member Norman Yee thanked the SFUSD staff for putting together a good agreement and said, "I'm a strong believer that to lift people up, unions are important. I'm also glad they carved out some work for non union businesses." Yee added that he thought that characterizing non-union work as inferior and shoddy was not fair and could be used as a way to pit workers against each other.

Superintendent Garcia said the PLA would give the district the opportunity to measure results. "The bottom line is what are the costs and results? We want to monitor it closely to see how the internships work, how many of our kids get into the apprenticeship programs. We want to see what the results are."

Mark Sanchez said that after three years of negotiations the district staff had done a good job to satisfy the trades and the District.

Work for the SFUSD will involve improving health and safety standards, including installing fire sprinkler systems, repairing elevators and replacing drinking fountains; making building repairs such as fixing bathrooms and repairing or replacing electrical and plumbing systems; improving accessibility for students with disabilities by installing ramps, signs, assistive listening devices and making other needed repairs and replacements; and performing needed environmental improvements, including removing materials containing asbestos.

There are 43 projects listed in the agreement that are subject to the terms of the PLA, out of a total of 58 projects. According to SFUSD Bond Program Director of Finance & Administration Leonard Tom, the Bond Program will be designing and constructing those projects between now and 2012.

He said that of that group, two projects (Sutro Elementary School and Cleveland Elementary School) are currently requesting construction bids. An additional six projects (New Traditions ES, Lawton ES, Lakeshore ES, San Miguel CDC, Herbert Hoover MS, Dr. George Washington Carver ES) are scheduled to advertise for bids this coming fall. Most of the remaining projects are in various stages of planning design or approval.