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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4/19/2022 Item 6d, Perry Delgado, Adriana From:Corri Perry <corri@slocbe.com> Sent:Tuesday, April To:E-mail Council Website Subject:PLA's are not in the Public Interest Attachments:PLA Cost to Workers.pdf; Minority_revised.pdf; Fair PLA for SLO.pdf; Four Facts for a Fair PLA.pdf; What is a PLA.pdf; PLA Opposition Letter Board Approved 04192022.pdf This message is from an External Source. Use caution when deciding to open attachments, click links, or respond. Dear Mayor Erica Stewart and San Luis Obispo City Council, Good morning, I am Cordelia Perry, Executive Director of San Luis Obispo County Builders Exchange, we a Non-Profit Trades Association for the Local Licensed Contractor. Attached you will find our letter of Opposition concerning any and all future Community Workforce Agreements (CWA) also known as Project Labor Agreement (PLA) for the City of San Luis Obispo on all Taxpayer funded construction Projects and that it be submitted into the meeting documents. You will also find the following documents; CWAs / PLAs Cost to the Workers – this is harmful to our local workforce – i.e. the cost of $200.00 a day an employee will lose from their paychecks for Fringe Benefits that they will never use or recover the stolen funds, the Fringe Benefits go into the Union Coffers to fund the Unfunded pensions, Minority report on how the CWAs/PLAs allow for discrimination against Minority business, What is a PLAs, Four Facts for a Fair PLA/CWA and a 10 page Document that explains to you how we can have a FAIR PLA for SLO if you are so insistent to force a CWA onto your constituents. Our request is that you will take the time to read thoroughly the attached information and come to the same conclusion that CWAs benefit the Union Halls not your local construction companies that pay their taxes, that have served this community for years and completed your necessary construction projects all without a CWA. Please do not allow a Community Workforce Agreement or a Project Labor Agreement on any Public Works Project for the City of San Luis Obispo. Respectfully, Cordelia Perry Cordelia Perry, Executive Director SLO County Builders Exchange 153 Cross Street, Suite 130, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 Ph: 805-543-7330 corri@slocbe.com Fax: 805-543-7016 www.slocbe.com "Advancing, Serving, and Supporting the Building and Construction Industry since 1949" CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information or may otherwise be protected by law. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message and any attachment thereto. 1 __________________________________________________________________ Request to Participate in Negotiations One of the unfair aspects of PLAs is that contractors are required to sign them to work on a project, but contractors are not allowed to participate in negotiations. All parties that sign these agreements should be invited to participate in the negotiations. Associated Builders and Contractors or the BX should have a representative participating in all negotiations for the PLA. Labor Requirements Important to Merit Shop Contractors in PLA Negotiations Although PLAs are replete with provisions that cut competition, there are four provisions of PLAs that are particularly objectionable to non-union companies: • PLAs require non-union companies to pay their workers' health and welfare benefits to union trust funds, even though these companies have their own benefit plans. Companies thus have to pay benefits twice: once to the union and once to the company plan. Workers never see any of their benefits sent to the unions unless they decide to leave their non-union employer and remain with the union until vested. • PLAs require non-union companies to obtain their workers from union hiring halls. This means that a non-union company has to send its workers to the union hiring hall and hope that the union sends the same workers back. In addition, this provides unions with the opportunity to dispatch “salts” (paid union organizers) with conflicts of interest in employment to non-union companies. • PLAs require non-union companies to obtain apprentices exclusively from union apprenticeship programs. Participants in state-approved non-union apprenticeship programs cannot work on a job covered by a PLA. This means that young people enrolled in non-union apprenticeship programs can find themselves excluded from work in their hometowns. • Non-union workers must pay union dues and fees. There are solutions to each of these problems: Fringe Benefits We suggest the use of the benefits language included in the PLA approved in May 2009 for the San Diego Unified School District: Section 5.2 Benefits. (a) Contractors shall pay contributions to the established employee benefit funds in the amounts designated in the appropriate Schedule A; and make all employee ¬authorized deductions in the amounts designated in the appropriate Schedule A: provided, however, that the Contractor and Unions agree that only such bona fide employee benefits as accrue to the direct benefit of the employees (such as pension and annuity, health and welfare, vacation, apprenticeship, and training funds) shall be included in this requirement and required to be paid by the Contractor on the Project; and provided further, however, that such contributions shall not exceed the contribution amounts set forth in the applicable prevailing wage determination. Unless otherwise required by law, Contractors who have fringe benefits for their core workforce equal to or better than those designated in the Schedule A do not have to pay the fringe benefit contribution designated in the Schedule A on the core work force and may utilize their own fringe benefits. The Project Labor Coordinator will be responsible for determining whether the benefits are equal to or better than those designated in the Schedule A's. Contractors must submit their fringe benefit packages to the Project Labor Coordinator for evaluation prior to bidding. Contractors may only take credit against the prevailing wage in accordance with the Prevailing Wage Statute and the difference between the hourly cost, if any, of the fringe benefit provided and the hourly cost of the applicable fringe benefit portion of the wage determination must be paid to the worker as wages. Benefits designated in the Schedule A will be paid on all employees dispatched by the Union. (b) Where applicable, the Contractor adopts and agrees to be bound by the written terms of the applicable, legally established, trust agreement(s) specifying the detailed basis on which payments are to be made into, and benefits paid out of, such trust funds for its employees. The Contractor authorizes the Parties to such trust funds to appoint trustees and successors' trustees to administer the trust funds and hereby ratifies and accepts the trustees so appointed as if made by the Contractor. (c) Each Contractor and Subcontractor is required to certify to the Project Labor Coordinator that it has paid all benefit contributions due and owing to the appropriate Trust(s) or fringe benefit programs prior to the receipt of its final payment and/or retention. Further, upon timely notification by a Union to the Project Labor Coordinator, the Project Labor Coordinator shall work with any Contractor or Subcontractor who is delinquent in payments to assure that proper benefit contributions are made, to the extent of requesting the District or the prime Contractor to withhold payments otherwise due such Contractor, until such contributions have been made or otherwise guaranteed. Or, here is language from the current Ballpark Village PLA in San Diego that allows a contractor to pay health and pension employee benefits to its own plans. We recommend that the fair PLA does not contain the phrase in brackets below, as that phrase requires the contractor to make payments for collective bargaining agreement administrative fees and to union-affiliated programs categorized as “industry advancement.” WAGE SCALES AND FRINGE BENEFITS Wages, fringe benefits, and all Trust Fund contributions shall be determined by the applicable Schedule “A” agreements for those contractors’ signatory to an applicable Schedule “A.” Non-signatory Contractors shall also be required to pay wages, fringe benefits and Trust Fund contributions, which benefits and contributions accrue directly to the benefit of employees (e.g., health and welfare, vacation, holidays, pensions, apprenticeship, training funds), pursuant to the attached Schedule “A” agreements; however, any Contractor or Subcontractor, who for at least ninety (90) days prior to its execution of a contract to perform work on the Project has been a contributing member of a multi- employer pension plan or third-party administered pension plan covering employees performing work covered by this Agreement or has provided company paid health and welfare benefits at a level generally commensurate with the benefits provided by the applicable Union medical plan may, at the discretion of the Contractor or Subcontractor, continue to contribute to such pension and medical plans on behalf of its non-union Core Employees in lieu of payments to the Union’s medical and pension plans. In the event the Contractor’s contribution to a qualifying pension plan is lower than the pension contribution called for in the applicable Schedule “A,” the difference shall be paid to the employee in the employee’s regular weekly paycheck. [All other required benefit contributions and] all contributions on behalf of Union members and employees obtained through Union hiring halls shall be paid to the applicable Union Trust Funds pursuant to the provisions of the applicable Schedule “A.” Project contractor and the business agent of the Union having jurisdiction over the craft shall, upon giving at least seventy-two (72) hours written notice to a Contractor or Subcontractor, have the right to audit the Contractor or Subcontractor’s payroll records to ensure compliance with these provisions. We suggest that the PLA address the matter of fringe benefits by including an expansion of exemption language that appears in the University of New Mexico Hospital West Wing Construction PLA, approved in May 2004. Although the language in the New Mexico PLA only applies to retirement plans, the City should expand the language to include employer payments for employee benefit plans included as part of prevailing wages as defined in Section 1773.1 of the California Labor Code. Here is the language from the New Mexico PLA: A contractor that is not a signatory to an existing collective bargaining agreement with any Union having jurisdiction over the Project and that has established and/or is making employer contributions to a retirement plan for its employees, may continue to make employer contributions to such plan on behalf of each of its “regular employee workforce” employed under this Agreement pursuant to 10.2 above, and for such other employees of the Contractor working under this Agreement who meet the criteria below, in lieu of making employer contributions to a retirement plan pursuant to 14.3, provided the following conditions are met: (i) such Contractor’s plan is a bona fide plan and in effect at the time that the Contractor commences Project work and has been in effect and applicable to the Contractor’s employees, whether working on private or public projects, for the proceeding twelve (12) months; (ii) the Contractor contribution amount represents the actual cost of the benefit (expressed as an hourly contribution) to the Contractor, and that is consistent with applicable laws related to wages and employee benefits; and (iii) the employee on whose behalf the Contractor contribution is made is an active participant in the Contractor plan at the time of his initial employment on the project, or was an active participant in the plan at the time of his last employment with the Contractor. (iv) Any difference between the total hourly contribution to a Contractor retirement plan under this section and the Contractor contribution due to the corresponding fund under 14.1 and 14.3, shall be paid directly to the employee as part of his paycheck for wages earned on the Project. (v) For purposes of this Section 14.4, a bona fide retirement plan qualifying for recognition under 14.4(a) shall be a tax-qualified plan, subject to ERISA, and have a current SPD available for review. The Contractor shall advise the Project Labor Administrator and the affected Union(s) at least five (5) working days prior to exercising its rights under this section 14.4 and provide the Project Labor Administrator with such information as is necessary to demonstrate the appropriateness of the Contractor’s utilization of this section. Use of Employees Contractors should be allowed to retain a “core workforce” with a reasonable definition of a regular employee. Here is sample language: Where a successful bidding Contractor is not a party to a current collective bargaining agreement with the signatory Union having jurisdiction over the affected work, the Contractor may request by name, and the local will honor, referral of core non-apprentice persons who have applied to the local Union for Project work and who demonstrate to the local Union dispatcher and provide proof of all the following qualifications: 1. possess any and all license(s) and certification(s) required by state or federal law for the Project work to be performed; 2. have worked a total of at least five thousand (5,000) hours in the appropriate construction craft; 3. were on the Contractor's active payroll for at least ninety (90) out of the one hundred-twenty (120) calendar days prior to the award of the Contract; and 4. have the ability to perform safely the basic functions of the applicable trade. When the Contractor requires employees for the Project in addition to his/her core workforce it shall utilize the Union referral system. We would oppose an alternating procedure in which a regular employee is assigned to the project and then another worker is obtained from the union hiring hall. Also, the PLA should include language that guarantees that if a Contractor without an existing collective bargaining agreement with a union sends an employee who does not fall under the core workforce definition to the union, the union is required to dispatch the same worker back to the company. Such language is seen in Article IV, Section 5 of the PLA for the San Diego County Water Authority’s Emergency Storage Project: The Local Unions shall not knowingly refer an employee currently employed by any Contractor working under this Agreement to any other Contractor. Apprenticeship The PLA should contain language that conforms to Section 1777.5 of the California Labor Code, which states the following: When the contractor to whom the contract is awarded by the state or any political subdivision, in performing any of the work under the contract, employs workers in any apprentice-able craft or trade, the contractor shall employ apprentices in at least the ratio set forth in this section and may apply to any apprenticeship program in the craft or trade that can provide apprentices to the site of the public work for a certificate approving the contractor under the apprenticeship standards for the employment and training of apprentices in the area or industry affected. Language from the East Side Union High School District PLA, approved in August 2003, would be acceptable: 8.4 Each contractor or subcontractor performing work on the project shall, for each apprentice-able craft that it employs, employ on its regular workforce the ratio of apprentices as required by Labor Code Section 1777.5 who are enrolled and participating in a bona fide apprenticeship program. Prior to commencing work on the Project, each contractor or subcontractor must file with the District a certification of its compliance with this requirement and disclose the identity of the bona fide apprenticeship program from which it will obtain apprentices for work on this project. The following language could also be included: Any contractor performing work covered by this Agreement shall have the right to employ apprentices enrolled in any State-approved apprenticeship program, provided that the contractor has employed apprentices enrolled in the same program for a period of at least six months prior to either (1) this Agreement taking effect or (2) the contractor’s commencement of work covered by this Agreement. No apprentice may be required to pay membership dues or fees to any organization where such requirement did not pre-exist performance of work by such apprentice under this Agreement. Or, the following language could be included: Notwithstanding the provisions of this agreement or any labor agreement incorporated therein, any contractor performing work covered by this Agreement shall have the right to employ apprentices enrolled in any State-approved apprenticeship program for which the contractor is approved to train prior to the contractor’s commencement of work covered by this Agreement. No apprentice may be required to pay membership dues or fees to any organization where such apprentice has been dispatched to such a contractor under this agreement. Union Dues and Fees The PLA should specifically indicate the cash amount of dues and fees, such as initiation fees, that would be requested of a non-union employee. Non-union employees should have the option whether or not to pay union dues and various fees. Language from the East Side Union High School District PLA, approved in 2003, would be acceptable: 7.2 The Contractor agrees to deduct initiation fees, union dues or representation fees from the pay of any employee who executes a voluntary authorization for such deductions … Competitive Bid Requirement In order to protect the City from a reduced number of bidders resulting from a PLA, the PLA should contain a provision requiring covered work to be rebid without a PLA requirement if the City does not receive bona fide bids on that work on or before the deadline for receiving such bids from at least three (3) persons, firms, or corporations. Employer Withdrawal Liability for Multiemployer Pension Plans The Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) allows union multi-employer construction industry pension plans to make assessments against employers after they withdraw from those plans and no longer have an obligation to contribute. Employers who withdraw from a multiemployer pension plan, for example after ceasing work on a project covered by a PLA, can be required after the project ends to pay the plan an additional amount to cover part of the plan’s alleged “unfunded vested benefits.” Withdrawal liability could be incurred if the employer is no longer obligated to contribute to a plan, but continues the same type of work in the same area as was covered by the union that was signatory to the PLA. The PLA should include language exempting the contractor from employer withdrawal liability if the employer made all of the required contributions to the union pension fund during the period it was covered under a PLA. Here is sample language that has been used in some PLAs and other labor agreements: To the extent that such are not contrary to the terms of this Agreement, the Contractor agrees to accept the terms of the Trust Agreement of the union’s fringe benefit funds as amended establishing the Trust Agreements and Funds of the said Union. The Contractor designates as its representatives and trustees of said Funds the trustees now serving or who may in the future serve as vacancies occur. In the event that any pension fund designated for contributions by the Union assesses withdrawal liability against the Contractor as a result of such contributions, the Union agrees to defend with competent counsel, indemnify and hold harmless the Contractor from such assessment of withdrawal liability and from any and all attorneys’ fees and costs related to or arising out of such agreement. Or, the following language could be included: In order to protect the Contractor from incurring any withdrawal liability based on the contributions made to such pension plans as a result of executing this Agreement, the parties stipulate that it is not intended that such Contractor shall have any withdrawal liability when such Contractor ceases to make contributions to such pension plans pursuant to this Agreement. Furthermore, the signatory Unions therefore agree not to collect or make any attempt to collect such a withdrawal liability and to indemnify and hold harmless any Contractor against any withdrawal liability resulting from a Contractor contributing to said pension funds as a result of executing this Agreement. No-Strike Clause The City needs to be firm on this: if there is a strike or any other union slowdown, the PLA is void. The PLA should also ascertain in writing whether or not the Building Trades will ask their workers to cross picket lines set up by other unions in order to abide by the conditions of the PLA. Assessing Financial Liability for Work Stoppages and Slowdowns As the “no-strike clause” is a prominent feature of a PLA, the inclusion of a provision to assess financial liability for work stoppages and slowdowns can serve as an extra incentive to fulfill the conditions of the agreement. Here is sample language: In the event a work stoppage or slowdown affects work covered by this Agreement and said stoppage or slowdown involves or is caused by a Union signatory to this Agreement, an affected signatory party may seek redress under the grievance procedure of this Agreement which shall include, but not be limited to, liquidated damages of $______ [depending on size/scope of project] per day and any other remedies available under applicable law. Waiving Recourse to a Third-Party Lawsuit under the Grievance Procedure Under applicable law, PLAs may provide recourse to grievance and arbitration procedures that eliminate costly and time-consuming court litigation. Accordingly, to expand upon this concept and keep disputes out of court, the following language is proposed. Alternative One addresses the basic concept, while Alternative Two specifically addresses the potential for assignment of claims by employees covered by the PLA to third parties not signatory to it, such as joint labor-management committees established pursuant to the federal Labor Management Cooperation Act of 1978 (Section 175a of Title 29 of the United States Code), which have independent rights of action which may not be directly affected by the language in Alternative One. Alternative One: All signatory parties, employers, unions, joint labor-management committees, trust funds, owners, agencies, shareholders, officers, directors, trustees, representatives of same, as well as any third-party which has any ownership, corporate, affiliate, partnership, legal, sponsor, and/or personal relationship shall be required to raise and resolve any and all disputes flowing from the performance of work and duties under this Agreement through the grievance-arbitration mechanisms of this Agreement unless otherwise specifically excluded by the terms of this Agreement. Alternative Two: This agreement and the rights set out in it are unique to the parties and may not be assigned to third parties to this agreement. In addition, all such rights are understood to arise in the context of and are subject to resolution through the grievance processes of this agreement. Accordingly, no party or third party to this agreement is herein accorded any rights of action in any venue, except such rights as exist in this agreement under the grievance process. Union Security Provisions Bid specifications for the projects should include the applicable crafts’ Schedule A Agreements as referenced in the Union Security section of the PLA. Are non-union employees on this PLA subject to union disciplinary actions such as monetary fines if they ignore prohibitions in the union constitution and by-laws? Will non-union workers be fined if they leave the union once the job ends? Which petty rules do non-union workers have to follow on a PLA job? For example, are they required to boycott certain products and establishments? Perhaps the PLA should include a copy of the union constitution and by-laws so signatories will know the conditions that must be followed by their employees. Audits Will the union fund trustees have the right to audit non-union contractors’ financial records when working on a PLA? Biased Arbitrators A PLA nullifies the non-union company’s employee handbook. Who will choose the arbitrators for employee grievances in this PLA? Is it the unions? Privacy of Workers How much access will union officials and organizers have to non-union workers on the jobsite? Will union organizers have access to the names and addresses of non-union employees and use the information for marketing purposes, including home visits about joining the union? Drug Testing What are the rules concerning drug testing under this PLA? Will non-union companies have to abandon their drug testing program? So, your council has said they want to implement a PLA and their goal is to make sure local workers work on the project. Many local contractors will not bid on a project with a PLA. Here are four things the City of San Luis Obispo can do to encourage local contractors and employees to participate: CORE EMPLOYEES: Allow local contractors to use up to 25 Core employees before having to dispatch from the union hall. If a worker has been employed by a local contractor for 90 days preceding the work, odds are the worker is local and will continue to be employed at a local company. Furthermore, many contractors do not want workers that are unfamiliar with their internal processes, safety protocols, and culture on their worksite. By allowing local contractors to use their core workforce you encourage them to participate. DON’T FORCE DISPATCHING CORE EMPLOYEES: If a core employee is working for a local company, they should not have to be dispatched from the Union Hall or pay union dues. This will encourage more local contractors to participate knowing they can pay their employee instead of the union. In effect, it lets their worker keep more money in the worker’s pocket. That is money a local worker will then take and spend at local businesses. ALLOW QUALIFIED BENEFIT PLANS: If a local contractor has a qualified health plan, or a qualified retirement plan then they should be allowed to contribute to their core employees plans. PLAs often require payment into the union health and retirement plans. If a contractor has those plans in place already, why should they be forced to pay into plans their employees will never use? By allowing qualified plans for a contractor’s core workforce, you will encourage more local contractors to participate. ALLOW ALL QUALIFIED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS: California has a huge construction labor shortage. When it comes to dispatching apprentices to a jobsite, all State recognized programs should be allowed to dispatch under the PLA. This will encourage additional local contractor participation by allowing contractors that work with programs that may be independent of the unions to still participate. After all, we need all workers to get on the job training provided by apprenticeship. This will allow all contractors to have a qualified pool of workers to draw from in the future. Four Facts 4 A Fair Project Labor Agreement (PLA) PLAs are typically touted as being in the “best interests of the workers.” But here is the painful truth for construction workers who are forced to participate in a PLA. It could cost a worker – in this example a journeyperson electrician – as much as $70,233 to work under a PLA. The “total package” of wages and benefits are set by the state in what is called a “prevailing wage determination” which is almost always based upon the union’s collective bargaining agreement. In Orange County for the job of inside wireman – the total package is $58.57 an hour but let’s look what happens to that. The package is composed of an hourly wage, and amounts for health insurance, pension, training, and an amount for “other purposes” (really - a union slush fund). So long as the total of payments add up to the total package – the amounts for some of these items can vary – but the wage can never drop below $39.50. But watch what happens and the impact these variances have on non-union workers who are forced to contribute under the PLA. The PW amount for health and welfare is set at $10.20 an hour – and that is the amount the contractor must send to the union for medical coverage for the covered employee. That is $1,632 a month for medical. WECA collects $720 a month for a full coverage plan for a typical covered worker and family and another example – under the ACA – you can purchase a gold plan policy for a family of three for $856 a month. So, at a minimum, the electrician forced into the unions’ “one size fits all plan” costs him or her at least $800 a month! And if the worker doesn’t need any medical coverage – say they are covered on their spouse’s plan or parent’s – they lose the entire $1,632 for coverage they don’t need (remember – the total package must add up to $58.57 – so an employer who pays less than $10.20 an hour – pays more into one of the other categories – usually pension. So let’s look at the pension. That is set at $7.45 an hour. The vesting can vary from union to union but according to the IBEW/NECA website – it is five years for locals in Southern California. So, unless the non-union worker gets five years of work in the IBEW – they lose the entire $7.45 because they never qualify for retirement from the union. To qualify for being part of the total package, a non-union contractor must make an irrevocable contribution to the benefit of the worker – usually the contributions are made into a 401K. The package includes an amount called “other payments” which we in the merit shop call the unions’ slush fund. In the OC it’s $.44 an hour – not much – but it still is an involuntary “deduction” from the total package that in the merit shop is typically paid into pension. Finally – these workers now are obligated to pay union dues for a union they did not voluntarily join. I am sure some in the audience will complain that no one can be forced to join a union or pay dues – but I’ve seen PLAs that mandate union membership beginning on the 7th day of work – so I argue the dues are required – and in SLO it is $31.70 a month or $.20. So when you add up the higher costs for medical, the loss of pension contributions, the payment of dues and “other” fees, a PLA at Centralia SD will cost a non-union electrician at least $13.14 an hour – for a union the worker never agreed to join! PLAs Cost Workers These scenarios assume a two-year construction project with 48 weeks of full-time, paid employment.1 JP electrician, 2 dependents. PLA in place JP electrician, 2 dependents. No PLA in place JP electrician, no dependents, health covered under ACA Total package $58.57 $58.57 $58.57 Health & Welfare $10.202 $5.353 $0 Training4 $0.78 $0.78 $0.78 Union Dues5 $0.20 - - “Other”6 $0.44 - - “Lost” Pension7 $7.45 - - Available Take home pay $39.50 $52.44 $57.79 $13.148 $18.499 “Savings” to worker free from PLA10 $50,457.60 $71,001.60 1 These scenarios do not calculate any tax consequences that could result from an employers decision to pay additional wages to reach the total package or make pension contributions that could shield some payments from federal and/or state taxation 2 Paid to union trust – assumes full coverage for employee and dependents 3 For illustration, this is an estimate from Covered California for a Blue Shield Gold 80 PPO policy for this family in SLO County. http://www.coveredca.com/shopandcompare/2015/#healthplans 4 Required payment of training contribution to State CAC or apprenticeship program 5 https://www.unionfacts.com/lu/25310/IBEW/639/#membership-tab 6 From DIR PW calculations. INCLUDES AN AMOUNT FOR THE NATIONAL LABOR-MANAGEMENT COOPERATION FUND AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE MAINTENANCE FUND. 7 According to IBEW/NECA pension vests in five years, contributions made if worker doesn’t vest are “lost.” https://www.scibew-neca.org/html/pspd0080.htm 8 This is the difference between the required basic hourly rate of $39.30 and the total package of $58.37. The employer MAY pay this on the wage – which results in additional costs to employee and employer or more typically, may make an irrevocable contribution to a retirement account like a 401K. 9 Ibid 10 As previously noted, this amount could be in the form of wages or a contribution to a pension program. 153 Cross Street, Suite 130 4851 El Camino Real San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 Atascadero, CA 93422 (805) 543-7330 - FAX (805) 543-7016 Ph: (805)-460-9670 FAX: (805)-460-9672 April 19, 2022 RE: Opposition to PLA/CWA City of San Luis Obispo Honorable Mayor Erica Stewart & San Luis Obispo City Council Members RE: City of San Luis Obispo proposed PLA (Project Labor Agreement) / CWA (Community Workforce Agreement) Dear Mayor and Council members: As the Executive Director of our local Contractors Planroom, serving our local contractors, I am writing to encourage your Council to Vote NO on the Project Labor Agreement (PLA) or Community Workforce Agreement (CWA) for the City of San Luis Obispo construction projects of any dollar amount. PLAs/CWAs keep local voting & tax paying contractors, from competing for work that their local tax dollars are helping to fund. San Luis Obispo County has a large contractors base, and we are very capable of handling the workload. All that we need to survive is a chance to compete for local work. There are several items mandated by PLAs / CWAs that disadvantage our local contractors. We are in support of: 1. Equal opportunity for both Union and Non- Union local Contractors 2. Prevailing and or Living Wage and benefits for all quoting contractors when required We are opposed to: 1. Precluding our local qualified non-union contractors from competing for local work by tilting the rules to favor union shops via a PLA. 2. Adopting unnecessary requirements meant to unfairly advantage any group of contractors over another especially when this may lead to outside companies and tradespeople working on our local work and taking their wages & profits back home with them. Key Points of Concern: 1. PLA’s limit the number of Core employees that can be used by only allowing a 1 to 1 ratio dispatching one from the Union Hall first. That means once you have used your allotted Core “Advancing, Serving and Supporting the Building and Construction Industry Since 1949” 153 Cross Street, Suite 130 4851 El Camino Real San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 Atascadero, CA 93422 (805) 543-7330 - FAX (805) 543-7016 Ph: (805)-460-9670 FAX: (805)-460-9672 workforce the rest of the workforce will have to be dispatched from the Union Hall. When the local Union Hall can’t supply the workforce then other workers have to come from out of town, while our local employees sit home. 2. PLAs require a contractor to pay Union dues, benefits, and retirement in addition to the benefits that the contractor already provides to their employees. This money goes directly to the union coffers with no benefit to our local employees. The result is that our local contractors must pay for benefits and retirement twice and for programs their employees will never participate in. 3. Overall, we are seeing PLA / CWA limited projects realize increased costs of over 13% to 40%. As a taxpayer, we should be delivering the best project, at the best cost for the public. I urge you to let our local voting and tax paying contractors compete on a “level playing field” by rejecting the PLA / CWA. Please help us keep our locally earned taxpayer money local. Best regards, Cordelia Perry Cordelia Perry, Executive Director