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UPDATE ON THE CITY OF STOCKTON’S COMMUNITY WORKFORCE TRAINING AGREEMENT
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RECOMMENDATION
This report is provided for informational purposes only and does not require City Council action. Per Council direction, a status update on the Community Workforce Training Agreement is being provided 18 months after implementation.
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Summary
On July 26, 2016, the City Council adopted a resolution to implement a Community Workforce Training Agreement (CWTA) for the City. The adopted agreement specifies conditions that contractors and employers that are awarded City public works or improvement contracts valued at $1 million or more must follow. The CWTA also specifies conditions that the City must follow.
Council requested staff to provide a review of the program after 18 months. Staff monitored all applicable projects and are reporting the results in accordance with that direction.
DISCUSSION
Background
Any complex construction project requires the services of a variety of workers with diverse skill sets. A labor management system is needed to coordinate the labor force of employers and employees working side-by-side to construct a project. The CWTA is an example of a workforce management tool commonly referred to as a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement. Such agreements are also known as a Project Labor Agreements (PLA), but may be known by other names such as Project Stabilization Agreements or Local Hiring Agreements. These agreements establish working conditions and management rights, and typically prohibit work disruptions that can lead to costly project delays.
The two most common elements of this type of agreement include a union agreement not to strike or engage in disruptive activities and a contractor agreement that lockouts will not occur for the duration of the project. Other elements commonly found in this type of agreement include: recognition of an exclusive collective bargaining agent, hiring through a local and centralized union job referral system or “hiring hall,” standardized wage and working conditions, management rights, expedited dispute resolution and payment of union dues.
The costs and benefits of this type of agreement are very difficult to quantify, and it is often unclear whether any gains are the result of such agreements or contractor, labor and owner actions.
On July 26, 2016, Council adopted the CWTA for the City. The Agreement specifies conditions contractors and employers the City awards public works or improvement contracts valued at $1 million or more to must follow. The Agreement also specifies conditions that the City must follow. These conditions include:
• limitations on work delays and stoppages,
• arbitration procedures and arbitrators,
• preconstruction conferences for coordination,
• prohibitions on discrimination,
• recognition of union(s) as the sole bargaining representative,
• requirements for contractors and employers to utilize union referral systems,
• agreement to pay wages and benefits as specified by the union,
• grievance processes,
• apprentice programs to develop adequate numbers of competent workers, including that 50% of apprentices employed on the project are from Stockton or San Joaquin County,
• programs to transition from the military to the trades,
• drug and alcohol testing requirements, and
• local hiring goals, including that Stockton or San Joaquin County residents work 50% of project hours.
Council requested a program update at 18 months, and this report fulfills that request.
Present Situation
Since approval of the CWTA, the City received three (3) qualifying solicitations:
1. The City rejected the sole bid it received for the City Hall Relocation Project.
2. On-Call Utilities Repair Services, which is in the procurement process.
3. The Under-Freeway Parking Lot Improvements project, which is being reported on here.
Presented in the following tables are hiring statistics from program inception through December 31, 2017.
Table 1.
Local Hire: Hours Worked by Geographic Area (All Skill Levels)
|
Qualifying Project |
Stockton Residents Hours |
San Joaquin Residents Hours |
External Participants/ No Data |
Total Reported Hours |
|
Under Freeway Parking Project |
303 |
991 |
138 |
1,432 |
|
Percentage |
24% |
69% |
7% |
100% |
The primary goal of 50% of CWTA reported hours to be completed by Stockton residents at all skill levels has not been met and is currently at 24%.
The secondary goal of 50% of CWTA reported hours to be completed by either Stockton or San Joaquin County residents at all levels is currently being met and is at 93%.
Table 2.
Apprenticeship Program Utilization by Geographic Area
Total reported hours worked at the Journeyman level is 987, and 262 (or 26%) were worked at the Apprentice level, all from San Joaquin County. No Stockton apprentice hours were reported.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
There is no financial impact associated with the presentation of this report.