Skilled and Trained Workforce Mandates coming for School Construction. Contact your State Senator today (Sample Letter at end of message)

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1 Skilled and Trained Workforce Mandates coming for School Construction Contact your State Senator today (Sample Letter at end of message) Three bills this year, AB 566, 1185 and 1358 containing skilled and trained workforce requirements have made their way through the Assembly and are now over in the Senate awaiting action. AB 1185 and AB 1358 are over in the Senate rules committee awaiting assignment. AB 566 is scheduled for hearing on June 10 in the Senate Education Committee. Similar language in the bills is currently being litigated at the state level and therefore should not be added to proposed statutes until it is determined to be or not be permissible by the courts. At the very least, there should be an extended phase-in period beginning no sooner than two years in the future to ensure enough skilled journey level workers will be available to meet the new skilled workforce mandates. Otherwise there will be unanticipated bottlenecks due to lack of sufficient required workers when schools look to build, replace or modernize their school facilities. According to the proposed legislation, skilled and trained workforce requirements can also be satisfied by local governments who have entered into a Project Labor Agreement requiring contractors to sign on to union workforce agreements which historically has reduced competition and increased costs. The bill authors should find an acceptable path to ensure those with documented, extensive experience through the military also be grandfathered in so that their service experience is counted towards journeyman status. Here s what each bill addresses (each also requires a skilled and trained workforce ): AB 566 (O Donnell) Would apply to schools utilizing lease/lease-back arrangements for projects from $1 million and over to comply with the PLA and skilled and trained workforce provisions. AB 1185 (Ridley-Thomas) Would establish a pilot program to authorize the Los Angeles Unified School District to use, before December 31, 2020, a best value procurement method for bid evaluation and selection for public projects that exceed $1 million to comply with the skilled and trained workforce provisions. AB 1358 (Dababneh) Would require all schools utilizing design/build or best value for projects over $1 million to comply with the PLA and skilled and trained workforce provisions. Again, while the three current bills only affect schools, there is little doubt that these provisions will ultimately be included in all public works projects and even into private funded projects that have some public funding (see AB Levine which would define de- Minimis as less than $75,000 and less than 1% of the total project cost). 1

2 What is a skilled and trained workforce? The language is basically the same for each of the aforementioned bills. The following is from AB 1358 dealing with design/build: 1). A design-build entity shall not be prequalified or shortlisted unless the entity provides an enforceable commitment to the school district that the entity and its subcontractors at every tier will use a skilled and trained workforce to perform all work on the project or contract that falls within an apprenticeable occupation in the building and construction trades. (1) For purposes of this subdivision: (A) Apprenticeable occupation means an occupation for which the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards had approved an apprenticeship program pursuant to Section 3075 of the Labor line 2 Code before January 1, (B) Defines "skilled and trained workforce" as a workforce that meets all of the following conditions: i) All workers are either skilled journeypersons or apprentices registered in an apprenticeship program approved by the Chief of the DAS. ii) Individuals and subcontractors at every tier employed to perform work on the contract or project are comprised of skilled journeypersons that are graduates of an apprenticeship program approved by the Chief of the DAS or located outside California and approved for federal purposes pursuant to the apprenticeship regulations adopted by the federal Secretary of Labor, meeting the specified percentages and timeline: (1) At least 20% by January 1, (2) At least 30% by January 1, (3) At least 40% by January 1, (4) At least 50% by January 1, (5) At least 60% by January 1, iii) Specifies that for an apprenticeable occupation in which no apprenticeship program had been approved by the Chief of DAS before January 1, 1995, up to one-half of the graduation percentage requirements may be satisfied by skilled journeypersons who commenced working in the apprenticeable occupation prior to the chief's approval of an apprenticeship program for that occupation in the county in which the project is located. c) Defines "skilled journeyperson" as a worker who either: 1) graduated from an apprenticeship program that was approved by the Chief of DAS or located outside California and approved for federal purposes pursuant to apprenticeship regulations adopted by the Secretary of Labor, or 2) has 2

3 at least as many hours of on-the-job experience in an applicable occupation as would be required to graduate from an apprenticeship program for the applicable occupation that is approved by the chief. 2) Provides that an entity's commitment that a skilled and trained workforce will be used to perform the project or contract may be established by any of the following: a) The entity's agreement with the school district that the entity and its subcontractors at every tier will comply with the requirements of this bill and that the entity will provide the school district with evidence, on a monthly basis while the project or contract is being performed, that the entity and its subcontractors are complying with the requirements of this bill. b) If the school district has entered into a project labor agreement that will bind all contractors and subcontractors performing work on the project or contract and that includes the requirements of this bill, the entity s agreement that it will become a party to that project labor agreement. c) Evidence that the entity has entered into a project labor agreement that includes the requirements of this bill and that will bind the entity and all its subcontractors at every tier performing the project or contract. 3 Sample Letters Below to send to the bill author and your State Senator: Find your senator here: SAMPLE LETTER #1: June 3, 2015 Senator XYZ State Capitol, Room XXX Sacramento, CA RE: AB 566 (O Donnell) Letter of Opposition Dear Senator XYZ: I am writing today in opposition to AB 566 (O Donnell) School facilities: leasing property: construction contracts. While I honor the author s commitment to a skilled and trained workforce, a practice I am honored to utilize in my business, as a contractor who routinely participates on public works projects in the State of California, the skilled workforce requirement is proposed by building trade unions as a new way to block local, non-union, minority and women-owned construction employers and their employees from participating in school construction. The ratios that are mandated in the bill for journeyman are rather restrictive and will lead to a shortage of workers who qualify to work on valuable school construction projects in our State. The strict ratios in AB566 discriminate against journeyman who learned their trade in another state or another country and therefore are not graduates of a California state-approved apprenticeship program. It discriminates against 3

4 journeyman who learned their trade through community college classes, private trade schools, or even the military. Veterans are penalized for learning their trade in the wrong place! According to AB 566, skilled and trained workforce requirements can also be satisfied by local governments who have entered into a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) requiring contractors to sign on to union workforce agreements. It is widely known that PLA s stifle competition by discriminating against non-union contractors resulting in fewer competitive bids. PLA s also discriminate against the thousands of workers who are training or have graduated from State Approved Unilateral Apprenticeship Programs. You may not be aware, but approximately 84% of the construction workforce in California is nonunion, many of who work for family businesses who provide health care, pension and other benefits. These businesses and workers pay taxes to support our schools just like everyone else: why should they be locked out from the opportunity to continue to participate in work that they pay taxes to fund. The proposed legislation is discriminatory and is a classic case of a solution looking for a problem For these reasons, I strongly and respectfully oppose AB 566 and urge your no vote when it comes before you on the Senate floor. Best regards, XYZ Contractor SAMPLE LETTER #2: June 3, 2015 Senator XYZ State Capitol, Room XXX Sacramento, CA RE: AB 1358 (Dababneh) Letter of Opposition Dear Senator XYZ: I am writing today in opposition to AB 1358 (Dababneh) - School facilities: design-build contracts. While I honor the author s commitment to a skilled and trained workforce, a practice I am honored to utilize in my business, as a contractor who routinely participates on public works projects in the State of California, the skilled workforce requirement is proposed by building trade unions as a new way to block local, non-union, minority and women-owned construction employers and their employees from participating in school construction. The ratios that are mandated in the bill for journeyman are rather restrictive and will lead to a shortage of workers who qualify to work on valuable school construction projects in our State. The strict ratios in AB566 discriminate against journeyman who learned their trade in another state or another country and therefore are not graduates of a California state-approved apprenticeship program. It discriminates against journeyman who learned their trade through community college classes, private trade schools, or even the military. Veterans are penalized for learning their trade in the wrong place! 4

5 According to AB 1358, skilled and trained workforce requirements can also be satisfied by local governments who have entered into a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) requiring contractors to sign on to union workforce agreements. It is widely known that PLA s stifle competition by discriminating against nonunion contractors resulting in fewer competitive bids. PLA s also discriminate against the thousands of workers who are training or have graduated from State Approved Unilateral Apprenticeship Programs. You may not be aware, but approximately 84% of the construction workforce in California is nonunion, many of who work for family businesses that provide health care, pension and other benefits. These businesses and workers pay taxes to support our schools just like everyone else: why should they be locked out from the opportunity to continue to participate in work that they pay taxes to fund. The proposed legislation is discriminatory and is a classic case of a solution looking for a problem For these reasons, I strongly and respectfully oppose AB 1358 and urge your no vote when it comes before you on the Senate floor. Best regards, XYZ Contractor SAMPLE LETTER #3: June 3, 2015 Senator XYZ State Capitol, Room XXX Sacramento, CA RE: AB 1185 (Ridley-Thomas) Letter of Opposition Dear Senator XYZ: I am writing today in opposition to AB 1185 (Ridley-Thomas) - Los Angeles Unified School District: best value procurement: pilot program. While I honor the author s commitment to a skilled and trained workforce, a practice I am honored to utilize in my business, as a contractor who routinely participates on public works projects in the State of California, the skilled workforce requirement is proposed by building trade unions as a new way to block local, non-union, minority and women-owned construction employers and their employees from participating in school construction. The ratios that are mandated in the bill for journeyman are rather restrictive and will lead to a shortage of workers who qualify to work on valuable school construction projects in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The strict ratios in AB 1185 discriminate against journeyman who learned their trade in another state or another country and therefore are not graduates of a California state-approved apprenticeship program. It discriminates against journeyman who learned their trade through community college classes, private trade schools, or even the military. Veterans are penalized for learning their trade in the wrong place! You may not be aware, but approximately 84% of the construction workforce in California is nonunion, many of who work for family businesses that provide health care, pension and other benefits. These businesses and workers pay taxes to support our schools just like everyone else: why should they be 5

6 locked out from the opportunity to continue to participate in work that they pay taxes to fund. The proposed legislation is discriminatory and is a classic case of a solution looking for a problem For these reasons, I strongly and respectfully oppose AB 1185 and urge your no vote when it comes before you on the Senate floor. Best regards, XYZ Contractor 6