District OKs Accord Requiring Union Labor

The Los Angeles Board of Education unanimously adopted a sweeping labor agreement Tuesday that requires contractors receiving work under the $2.4-billion school bond to put only union members on the job and provide them with health and pension benefits.

The agreement, reached after 18 months of negotiations with representatives of the building trade unions, also provides preferences for workers who live within the Los Angeles Unified School District or who graduated from one of its schools.

Union representatives said the agreement will provide higher quality work at less cost while guaranteeing fair wages. They said the agreement is necessary to prevent what they described as rampant violation of the state’s prevailing wage laws by nonunion contractors.

Contractors countered that it would raise the cost of Proposition BB construction by shutting out most of the nonunion construction work force. Joseph S. Battaglia, executive director of Associated Builders & Contractors Inc., protested that no contractors were involved in the negotiations and suggested a court challenge is possible.

Two similar agreements covering the renovation of San Francisco Airport and a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power pumping plant are being contested in court under state competitive bidding laws, he said.

An amendment by board member Jeff Horton requires the agreement to expire in a year if the district cannot certify that it actually lowers costs.