Will a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) truly add value to the $42M Pinole/Hercules Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade?

The City of Pinole has been faced with a decision to make whether or not to consider using a discriminatory Project Labor Agreement for the construction of the $42M Pinole/Hercules wastewater treatment plant upgrade.  The use of a Project Labor Agreement was not in the original construction pans for the city but came about at the request of Councilmember Debbie Long on behalf of the Contra Costa County Building and Construction Trades Council.  The City has held two council work sessions on Project Labor Agreements and will be making its final decision on Tuesday, November 18th.  Wastewater treatment plant work is specialized and historically, most of this type of work has been built under Fair and Open  Competition without the use of Project Labor Agreements.  In fact, two of the largest EBMUD projects were built without PLAs - the $637M Freeport Regional Water Project and the $120M Walnut Creek-San Ramon Valley Improvement Project.  Both were large, long-term, multi-craft and complex construction projects successfully completed without labor strife. 

Although PLAs are not needed to perform public works, they are often pushed by construction unions to decrease competition.  PLAs are exclusionary labor agreements that discourage the vast majority of local contractors and small business owners from competing on and winning construction projects.  They impose discriminatory mandates on businesses ensuring that projects are awarded to vendors preferred by construction unions.  They require union dues for non-union workers to be paid on or after the 8th day resulting in less money on their pay-check.  Companies are forced to lay off productive non-union workers to hire union workers.  They require payment into union pension programs in which workers may never vest and require payment into union health programs which can result in a potential 60 day lapse in coverage for workers and their families.  Non-union apprentices cannot learn their trade and work on these jobs in their own communities when a PLA is in place. 

Studies and anecdotes show that Project Labor Agreements increase costs between 10 and 20%. 

PLA negotiations take additional time, delay project start schedules and cost additional money to awarding bodies.  The Los Vaqueros Reservoir and Bollman WTP Upgrade negotiations lasted 9-12 months.  The Sonoma County PLA negotiations cost $26,000.  Professional services to administer the Alameda County PLA cost taxpayers $1,167,240.

PLAs do not ensure local hire.  A recent audit of the Contra Costa County new West County Health Center found that 81% of TOTAL hours worked came from OUTSIDE of West Contra Costa County.  72% of TOTAL hours worked were from outside of the county.  75% of the contractors were located outside of Contra Costa County.

Between 2002 and 2012, 78% of the bids under the Contra Costa County PLA have been awarded to companies outside Contra Costa County.  Only 4% of the total companies that have performed work under the Project Labor Agreement could be identified as non-union.  The Project Labor Agreement had the opposite effect and created a monopoly for union contractors from outsidethe county.

On November 18th, the Pinole City Council should reject the PLA and stick to Fair and Open bidding for the construction of the wastewater treatment plant upgrade to ensure that Pinole taxpayers will get the most qualified contractors at the best price and to avoid putting extra risk to the sewer funds.  Citizens are encouraged to attend the Pinole Council Meeting at 6pm.