L.A. approves bid to boost hiring of city residents for big public works projects

With strong backing from labor unions, the Los Angeles City Council on Friday approved what supporters called a landmark requirement to bolster the hiring of city residents on large-scale public works projects and ensure fair wages and benefits for workers.

The new policy — which would mandate that city residents account for almost one-third of total work hours at city-funded construction sites — would apply to 98 proposed projects valued at $2.1 billion during the next five years, officials said. The plan also calls for at least 10% of the work to be done by low-income, homeless, single-parent or other “disadvantaged” workers.

“This is a home-made stimulus plan for Los Angeles,” said Councilwoman Jan Perry, who championed the measure, which was about two years in discussion. “It’s empowerment.”

The council approved the ordinance unanimously after a steady stream of public speakers urged passage, with none opposing it.

Union leaders came to City Hall in force to extol the measure, which would expand so-called project labor agreements at city-funded construction sites.

“These agreements create jobs, and that changes lives,” said Richard N. Slawson, executive secretary of the Building & Construction Trade Council in L.A. and Orange counties.

Both unionized and non-union contractors are free to bid for contracts under the agreements. But, in Los Angeles, unionized firms typically prevail when such agreements are in place, said Nickolas Sifuentes, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, a pro-labor advocacy group.

Organized labor and the Obama administration heavily favor project labor agreements. Some business groups oppose the deals as giveaways to Big Labor from their political allies.

Another aspect of the plan would require that union apprentices perform at least 20% of total work hours on public works projects. The idea is to provide a career ladder for young people in the building trades at a time of high unemployment.

Trade unions have sometimes been accused of relying on an old boys’ network and failing to reach out to nonwhite, inner-city populations. But Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa credited union apprentice programs with helping to funnel more African Americans from Los Angeles into the construction field. Union officials said they were committed to a diversified workforce.

“This is a jobs program for L.A. residents, make no mistake about it,” the mayor said at a news conference after the vote.

The new policy, he said, “can help us build projects faster, cheaper and with fewer interruptions.”

The plan basically expands and codifies the city’s ongoing policy of creating project labor agreements, which set contract guidelines on a range of issues. Supporters view the accords as a means to ensure that workers receive adequate salaries, healthcare and other benefits.

Signatories to the agreements are bound to maintain safe worksites free from discrimination and any form of labor action that might delay a project.

The new policy mandates such accords for most large-scale, city-funded public works projects in the next five years, from street widening to storm drainage repair to bridge-building. In addition, the plan mandates the hiring of city residents for 30% of work hours, along with guaranteeing slots for disadvantaged workers and apprentices. City officials described L.A.’s project labor agreement initiative as the nation’s most ambitious.

To ensure compliance, officials said, the city will have job compliance coordinators checking that contractors fulfill their requirements under the accord.

patrick.mcdonnell@latimes.com