|
Jane Jernigan, NUCA of NM's Executive Director, has attended recent Santa Fe City Council Meetings along with other NUCA of NM members to voice opposition in the city's use of Community Workforce Agreements. Although the CWA's were to be used in the first project on October 1, 2012, NUCA of NM members, along with ABC NM, IEC, and AFSA, have made significant strides in educating the council on the negative impacts of using the CWA and progress is being made. Our ultimate goal is to have the Regulation repealed.
One city councilor, Bushee, suggested that a feasibility study be conducted by UNM so that the council can see the real impact of the CWAs. The Council met on Tuesday, October 2nd to consider rules for the CWA. Please see the article from the Santa Fe New Mexican regarding the meeting on Tuesday.
We will continue to stay involved and call the Santa Fe City Councilors to action. Please contact the city councilors if you would like to have input on this matter, or call Jane Jernigan at the Association office.
City gets feedback on community workforce agreement rules
By Julie Ann Grimm | The New Mexican
10/2/2012
Members of the city of Santa Fe's Public Works Committee got an earful Tuesday night about a pro-union ordinance that went into effect this month.
Whether any changes to the new rules are introduced or whether a test project will generate interest from enough local contractors or eventually benefit Santa Fe workers remains to be seen.
An architect is working on designs for interior construction of a Railyard condominium that will be used for city office space, and that project is expected to be the first test of the rules. The bid process for the construction contract on the job is likely to begin late this year or early next year.
The "Community Workforce Agreement" ordinance, adopted unanimously by the City Council in February, was slowed once last summer by a June resolution seeking additional study. Last month, some councilors said they would soon introduce a measure seeking additional analysis, but none has formally proposed such a bill. Tuesday's public hearing was touted as an opportunity for the city to explain how the new agreements will work and to get perspectives from residents and businesses.
The ordinance calls for contractors doing city capital projects more than $500,000 to use union hiring halls for most of their workers. Among other provisions, hiring halls have to agree to "strive" for local workers to comprise at least 50 percent of the workforce, and workers have to join the union at least for the duration of the city job. Contractors are permitted to hire up to 20 of their "regular employee workforce," but the hiring hall will have say over all other workers.
Procurement Director Robert Rodarte said the rules are intended to work hand in hand with the city's existing "local preference" guidelines in its procurement rules. "The objective here is to try to hire as many local contractors as possible," he said.
For nearly the first hour of the Tuesday night meeting at City Hall, city staff provided an overview of how the bid process will work and what kind of commitment contractors will have to make. Then, more than 20 people lined up in the council chambers to testify both in favor of and against the agreements.
While some have argued that no local contractors will go along with the community workforce agreement, Peter Brill, who owns Santa Fe-based Sarcon Construction Corp., said he plans to bid on the Railyard project and comply with the new rules. "This is a good idea," he said. "I think we will all figure out how to make it work. It will take time and a period of adjustment."
Other contractors said the agreement didn't benefit the community and should be repealed - a stance shared by the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce and the Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association. Among them were local builder Rick Borrego, who said the agreement was a "set-aside" for union contractors, and Roddy Leeder, who runs R.L. Leeder Inc., who said he's already had to lay off workers, and the new ordinance is likely to make that situation worse.
"How could it be in the best interest of the city to lay off our people and join the union?" Leeder said.
Louis Medina, who spoke on behalf of the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters, said arguments that the agreement would result in higher costs for the city were untrue because of federal and state rules on prevailing wages. About 30 men from the carpenters union at the hearing applauded after he spoke. Other union workers including plumbers and pipefitters, electricians, iron workers and solar industry professionals also testified in favor of the ordinance.
Mayor David Coss, a longtime union supporter, promoted the workforce agreement and has stood by it despite recent criticism. According to public documents, he had help crafting the rules from a Washington, D.C., lobbying group called Partnership for Working Families, which has pushed for similar rules in Seattle, Oakland, Calif., and other cities. Coss says his biggest reason for supporting the agreements is that the local workforce will get better training and benefits - a point that a number of union workers also made at Tuesday's hearing.
The Rev. Holly Beaumont, organizing director for Interfaith Worker Justice, said nonunion construction contractors are among the most common entities to engage in wage theft and that the community workforce agreement will ensure that workers are paid for the jobs they do.
Even city councilors who voted for the ordinance change in February are questioning its appropriateness. Councilor Ron Trujillo said he's heard from both union and nonunion workers and contractors this summer and that he now has concerns about small local contractors being unable to get in on city work. "I want to make sure everybody in this community has an equal opportunity to bid on any job no matter what it is," he said, adding later, "There are some people who don't want to join a union."
Councilor Rebecca Wurzburger said the City Council didn't get a clear message early on that hiring halls aren't obliged to hire a majority of workers in Santa Fe but only have to "strive" for that. City Attorney Geno Zamora said the city is prohibited by federal law from establishing a required percentage of local workers.
Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.
Contact the Santa Fe City Council and voice your opinion on this legislation. CLICK HERE for contact information for the Santa Fe City Council. CLICK HERE to read the CWA in its entirety. | 
Corporate Sponsor 