4:00pm | One of this week’s decisions made in City Council was to approve City Management to move forward with developing a Project Labor Agreement (PLA), meaning that the city would open up bidding on upcoming airport improvement projects to construction firms. The plan is not without its critics.
The Port of Long Beach recently approved their own PLA process for their ten-year Middle Harbor expansion project. Press-Telegram reporter Kris Hanson this week estimated that the airport project will run about $140 million and explained the terms behind the agreement:
The project labor agreement, or PLA, allows any contractor, union and not, to bid on various phases of airport modernization during the next two years, but requires all of them to follow a set of guidelines favored by unions, including a progressive wage and benefit package, a dispute and arbitration process and funding for health care and workers’ compensation.
In return, the city and airport receive a no-strike pledge, set workforce costs and a clause preventing the project from running over budget or past its scheduled 2013 completion date.
The motion carried by a 7-2 vote – with Councilmembers Gary DeLong and Val Lerch dissenting – essentially allowing the airport to move forward with its long-awaited improvement construction by opening bids up to unionized firms.
Councilmember Tonia Reyes Uranga, who was a co-sponsor of the motion, attached a recent UCLA study finding that the use of a PLA dramatically increased local hiring and created job opportunities.
Delong, on the other hand, recently wrote in a blog that PLA’s “do not assist projects in being completed on time and under budget.” He goes on to say that politicians sometimes favor PLA’s because unions are often heavy campaign supporters.
Long Beach Chamber of Commerce CEO Randy Gordon agreed. In a recent e-mail newsletter, he wrote:
“It is simply wrong when union and non-union contractors are bidding against each other and if a non-union contractor is selected, they have to hire union workers upon a contract being awarded.”
The airport in April showed off extensive designs for improvement in their terminals, airline trailers and runways. Ground has already been broken on a new parking structure and the airport has many plans in place to upgrade runways and surrounding buildings.
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Disclosure: lbpost.com co-founder Shaun Lumachi is a government affairs advisor to the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.