Bush Order Ending Union Preference Won’t Affect County

An executive order signed by President Bush that revokes a requirement for construction projects using federal funds to be unionized won’t end Orange County’s controversial pact with unions, local labor leaders said Wednesday.

Bush’s order applies to “any executive agency” that awards a new construction contract or earmarks new funds for an existing contract. Bush’s order, signed Friday, reversed a 1993 executive order signed by President Bill Clinton that gave preference to union workers in jobs using federal funds.

The largest Orange County project that could be funded with federal money is the proposed airport at the retired El Toro Marine base. Airport construction is estimated at $2.8 billion, with most coming from federal aviation grants.

The new presidential order, however, doesn’t cover existing labor agreements, said Richard Slawson, executive secretary of the Los Angeles and Orange County Building and Construction Trades Council.

“We don’t think this will have any effect in Orange County,” he said. “We’re disappointed [by the order] but it wasn’t unexpected.”

There are two so-called project labor agreements in Orange County--one for county government contracts that expires in 2005 and another for $145 million worth of school construction and modernization projects in the Santa Ana Unified School District.

Orange County’s pact is unique because it applies to most projects undertaken through 2005. Other labor agreements in California have been tailored to specific public works projects.

County officials said Wednesday they are researching what effect, if any, the executive order would have on the proposed airport and other projects. The airport has yet to receive final approval from the county; no construction contracts have been signed.

The county has several projects that could get underway in the next four years as funding becomes available. Among them are the expansions of the Theo Lacy Branch Jail in Orange and the James A. Musick Branch Jail near Lake Forest and a new juvenile hall.

Some of the projects could be built using federal money. For example, the county wants to include drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs within the expanded jails, which could be eligible for federal grants.

The county’s labor agreement, approved in January 2000, came under fire from conservative groups and from South County activists fighting the proposed airport.

Critics accused the supervisors who approved the pact--Chuck Smith, Jim Silva and Cynthia P. Coad--of pandering to labor unions in exchange for union support last year to fight an anti-airport ballot measure that the unions opposed. Measure F was passed by 67% of the vote but was overturned by a judge in December.

The board majority said the pact was needed to control project costs, guarantee a supply of skilled local workers and impose hefty fines for work stoppages or strikes. It requires 85% union workers on general contracts of $225,000 or more and on specialty contracts worth $15,000 or more.

In his order, Bush said he was revoking the union work rules to “promote and ensure open competition,” to reduce costs for taxpayers, to prevent discrimination based on labor affiliation “or lack thereof” and to maintain government neutrality.