SAN DIEGO–The San Diego County Board of Supervisors today unanimously approved a recommendation from Fifth District Supervisor Bill Horn to draft an amendment to the San Diego County Charter to be placed on the June 8 ballot. If approved by a majority of voters, the Charter Amendment will prevent any future efforts to require Project Labor Agreements in County contracts beyond what the State and Federal government mandate.
A Project Labor Agreement, commonly referred to as a “PLA”, is a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement to use union labor on a project. When required, it eliminates the ability for non-union companies and workers to compete for and work on, government projects. When required by Federal, State, or local governments, PLAs discriminate against approximately 85% of construction workers and reduces competition to only those contractors who use union labor. Reducing competition for government contracts also has the effect of causing bids to come in higher, which drives up the cost to build government projects and squanders precious tax dollars. All qualified contractors and workers deserve the chance to compete for contracts and jobs that their own tax dollars pay for.
Supervisor Horn said, “According to the U.S. Department of Labor, only 15.6 percent of construction workers nationwide are unionized. When President Obama and the State legislate for union labor, they’re discriminating. They’re giving an unfair advantage to a minority of construction workers.” Supervisor Horn added, “The draft amendment to the San Diego County Charter would not prevent union shops from bidding. However, eliminating 85 percent of the competition for County contracts would be devastating to our local economy and taxpayers.”
In the last 12 months the cities of San Diego, Chula Vista, Oceanside, and the County of Orange have all taken steps to reduce or eliminate requirements to use the PLA. County Counsel will return to the Board of Supervisors on February 23 with a draft Charter Amendment. If approved, the draft amendment will then come back to the Board for final approval on March 2, and the measure will be placed on the June 8th ballot giving voters countywide the first chance to weigh in on the matter.
