COMMUNITY RFP PROCESS LOUIS ARMSTRONG NEW ORLEANS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Transcription

1 COMMUNITY RFP PROCESS LOUIS ARMSTRONG NEW ORLEANS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS CONSTRUCTION MANAGER AT-RISK SERVICES FOR THE AIRPORT PROJECT A. Background With more than 13,000 jobs in construction and a $546.5 million contract, the development of the represents an enormous opportunity to encourage equitable economic development for workers throughout the New Orleans Metropolitan area. The airport expansion provides the residents of New Orleans, especially residents of color who are economically disadvantaged, an opportunity to access training, quality jobs and career ladders. As a cross sector coalition, we have developed a good faith, voluntary Process because we feel that as a coalition of community groups, we can make a difference for residents of New Orleans. In order to realize this opportunity, we must act swiftly to impact the airport RFP process. The process is based on responsible development principles for those contractors applying to be considered in the selection of the Construction Manager At Risk ( CMAR ) in the construction of the new terminal at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. In order to take full advantage of this economic development opportunity and ensure local workers and formerly incarcerated workers have access to quality career ladder jobs, we are convening a broad based Community Evaluation Commission. Through the Process, which will run in parallel to the City s process, the Community Evaluation Commission will select and publicly recommend a CMAR proposer. B. Principles The Community Evaluation Commission is guided by the following principles, outlined more fully in the scoring methodology. These principles are crucial for ensuring that public money for the airport project is used to advance equitable economic development by providing quality jobs for local workers: 1. Fair Employment Wages at an adequate level for workers to support themselves and their families; the development of a dispute resolution mechanism; and fair scheduling. 2. Full Employment Transparent hiring process; targeted community hiring; and career ladders that provide ways for workers to build skills and quality careers Page 1 of 10

2 3. Health, Safety and Security Health insurance, paid sick days, payment for days that a state of emergency is declared, clear mechanism for workers to report health and safety concerns and a clear policy to prevent retaliation by workers who raise concerns. 4. Transparency, Monitoring and Compliance The Construction Manager will make these provisions binding and enforceable across all contractors and subcontractors. A community Monitoring Committee will be established to monitor the project. C. Schedule of Events As a CMAR Proposer, we request that you respond to the s, outlined below. The Process will proceed according to the following timeline (City deadlines in italics): EVENT Release of List of Commissioners serving on the Community Evaluation Commission City s Deadline for Submittal of Proposals (please submit a copy to the Community Evaluation Commission) Deadline for Response to s Community Evaluation Commission Hearing, including interviews with CMAR Proposers (time TBD) Public Release of Community Evaluation Commission s Findings and Recommendation City s Evaluation Team Meetings (Representatives from the Community Evaluation Commission will attend) City s Meeting for Oral Presentation/Interviews (Representatives from the Community Evaluation Commission will attend) DATE July 16, 2014 July 28, 2014 July 30, 2014 August 1, 2014 August 5, 2014 August 5, 2014 August 7, 2014 D. SUBMITTAL INSTRUCTIONS Page 2 of 10

3 All documents submitted to the Community Evaluation Commission should be submitted by to All proposals must be submitted no later than 5:00 PM July 30, E. Procedure for Community Evaluation of Proposals E.1. Submission of Proposals: The Community Evaluation Commission requests that CMAR Proposers provide a copy of your proposal and all documents submitted in response to the City s RFPs for the CMAR, which are public documents open to public inspection. A copy of Proposers proposal can be sent to CommunityRFP@nowcrj.org The Community Evaluation Commission also requests that Proposers submit responses to the s for selection and recommendation. These responses will be made available to the public. E.2. Interviews: The Community Evaluation Commission will hold presentationinterviews with CMAR Proposers on August 1, 2014 (time and location TBD). E.3 Selection and Recommendation: Proposals submitted in response to the s and documentation submitted in response to the City s RFPs will be considered and scored by the Community Evaluation Commission. The Community Evaluation Commission will make their scoring, findings, and recommendation public. F. Proposals: After hearing from the Proposers, the Community Evaluation Commission will score the Proposals and arrive at a final recommendation. The Commission s Recommendation shall be made public prior to the meeting of the City s Evaluation Team on August 5, Representatives of the Commission will also attend the City s Evaluation Team Meetings on August 5, 2014, and City s Oral Presentations/Interviews on August 7, The process will incorporate review of information provided in response to the City s RFP process in addition to the information requested below. No later than July 28, 2014, please send a copy of the Proposer s response to the City s RFPs to CommunityRFP@nowcrj.org. The Proposers are permitted to include any additional information related to the principles outlined in the scoring methodology section below and are encouraged to contact CommunityRFP@nowcrj.org with any questions or to discuss negotiating an agreement. New Orleans is facing a black jobs crisis. More than 50% of black men in New Orleans are unemployed. In order to ensure that the public money spent on the airport project results in quality jobs and equitable economic development, we request the following Page 3 of 10

4 information (if the Proposer is a joint venture or new entity, please specify by existing business entity): F.1 History of Community Benefits What is the composition of your current workforce? Please include information regarding racial composition, pre-hire income-levels, and the percentage from Orleans, Jefferson, or St. Charles Parish. What types of benefits and wages does your current workforce receive? On past projects in the last 5 years, what were the starting wages and benefits by craft? In the past, how have you enforced high standards of wage, work conditions, and other workforce standards across your contractors and subcontractors? o What methods worked well? What methods did not? o What did you learn from these past experiences? What is your past experience with targeted local hiring? Provide information regarding past experience with Community Benefits Agreements, Project Labor Agreements, Community Workforce Agreements, or pre-hire agreements covering hiring, wages, or working conditions. Proposer should disclose whether it has been subject to any government investigations or has had a complaint lodged against it by or through the Department of Labor (including the Occupational Health and Safety Administration), the National Labor Relations Board, or the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, or equivalent state-level agencies, in the last 15 years. If Proposer has been involved in any such matters, then provide a full description of the facts and circumstances of each. F. 2 Fair Employment Provide a breakdown of wages that you will pay workers, according to Davis- Bacon categories, at the airport site. Will you contractually require all of your contractors and subcontractors to pay the same rates? Will you ensure a minimum of $15/hour wage rate across the airport project site? Provide information regarding your plans to implement a dispute resolution mechanism on the airport site. Provide a statement on how you will require contractors and subcontractors to implement quality dispute resolution mechanisms. Page 4 of 10

5 Provide a statement on measures that you will take to ensure that disciplinary actions on the airport project site are fair and non-discriminatory and workers have a clear process to contest disciplinary action or termination in a timely manner. Describe the process proposer will use to address disputes between contractors and workers in event that a dispute arises between a worker on the airport project site and their employer? F.2 Full Employment Provide a statement regarding your plan to implement targeted community hiring on the airport project site. Targeted workers include anyone who has lived in Orleans, Jefferson, or St. Charles Parish for at least 6 months and who meets any of the following criteria: o Has received public assistance in the past year, including any of the following: food stamps, TANF, Section 8, LIHEAP; o Is a resident of public housing; o Is low-income and has a criminal record; o Is low-income and unemployed or under-employed (under-employed is defined as working less than 1000 hours in the past year; unemployed is defined as having no current source of income). Provide a statement regarding your plans to implement training and career ladders, including certified apprenticeship programs across all trades in the airport project and high-quality pre-apprenticeship training. F.3 Health, Safety, and Security Provide a copy of the proactive worker health and safety plan you will use for the project. Provide a statement regarding your plans to provide health insurance, paid sick days, payment for periods during which a State of Emergency is declared, and other benefits for workers who are employed by you and your subcontractors across the airport project. Provide a statement regarding your plans to create a clear mechanism for workers to report health and safety concerns across the airport project. Provide a statement regarding your plans to ensure that workers who raise concerns regarding health, safety, wages, or other conditions on the site are not subjected to retaliation. F.4 Transparency, Monitoring, and Compliance Provide a copy of any signed Community Benefits Agreement, Project Labor Agreement Community Workforce Agreement, or any other Agreements signed regarding wages, training, or other conditions for the airport project. Page 5 of 10

6 Provide a statement regarding your willingness to allow a broad based Community Monitoring Committee to perform the following functions: o The opportunity to meet with workers on the project site for at least 2 hours within 2 weeks of their hire; o The ability to receive complaints regarding non-compliance with agreements signed regarding the airport project site; o Access to information needed to monitor the airport project site; o Meeting with the CMAR and representatives of contractors and subcontracts once a month to review agreements and measure success as well as resolve challenges; o The right to call contractors to appear and discuss compliance problems and determine their cause; o The right to establish a corrector plan for contractors not in compliance with any agreement signed regarding the airport project and of which Stand with Dignity is a signatory; o Ability to deputize community members to conduct community job-site monitoring; o Power to recommend to CMAR and appropriate governmental bodies additional penalties for repeated and sustained failure to comply, including financial penalties and debarment. Provide a statement regarding the information that you will disclose to the Community Monitoring Committee. Page 6 of 10

7 G. Grading Criteria: The Community Evaluation Commission will evaluate and score the Proposals using the criteria and scoring specified in the following table: GRADING CRITERIA MAXIMUM SCORE History of Community Benefits 10 Fair Employment Wages 10 Dispute Resolution and Fair Scheduling Full Employment Targeted Community Hiring 15 Training and Career Ladders 15 Health, Safety, and Security Health Insurance, Benefits, Paid Sick Days, State of Emergency Pay Health & Safety Reporting, Retaliation Prevention Transparency, Monitoring, and Compliance TOTAL SCORE 100 H. Scoring Methodology: The evaluation will be conducted as follows: 1. History of Community Benefits (10%) History of Proposer including, but not limited to, the following: o Safety record; o Past history of wage standards on your worksites; o Past experience hiring local workers; o Past experience hiring low-income workers; o Past experience hiring racial minorities; o Past experience with certified apprenticeship programs; o Pending/prior litigation, arbitration, sanctions, suspensions, debarments, complaints, or other government administrative processes, particularly related to discrimination, improper payment Page 7 of 10

8 of wages, workers compensation, and interference with rights under the NLRA; and o Past experience with Community Benefits Agreements, Community Workforce Agreements, Project Labor Agreements, or other binding and legally enforceable agreements signed in relation to labor standards, wages, targeted hiring, or other community benefits 2. Wages (10%) Wage levels; and Agreement to set a wage floor of a minimum of $15 for all employees, and contractually require the same for employees of contractors and subcontractors. 3. Dispute Resolution and Fair Scheduling (5%) Quality and accessibility of dispute resolution mechanism; Contractual requirement to require all contractors and subcontractors to implement a quality dispute resolution mechanism; Measures to ensure that discipline is progressive and that direct employees and employees of contractors and subcontractors have the ability to contest disciplinary action or termination in a timely manner; Guarantee that if a dispute arises between a worker and their direct employer, the CMAR will be responsible for addressing the concerns raised by each party. 4. Targeting Community Hiring (15%) Commitment to targeted community hiring, meaning that 40% of all hours worked on the airport project site through the CMAR and their contractors and subcontractors will be performed by targeted workers. Targeted workers include anyone who has lived in Orleans, Jefferson, or St. Charles Parish for at least 6 months and who meets any of the following criteria: o Has received public assistance in the past year, including any of the following: food stamps, TANF, Section 8, LIHEAP; o Is a resident of public housing; o Is low-income and has a criminal record; o Is low-income and unemployed or under-employed (under-employed is defined as working less than 1000 hours in the past year; unemployed is defined as having no current source of income); Commitment to transparent monitoring of the community hiring process through access to documents including but not limited to certified payrolls; Access to transportation for targeted workers. Page 8 of 10

9 5. Training and Career Ladders (15%) Commitment to working exclusively with state-certified apprenticeship programs on the project airport project site; Commitment to employing participants in state-certified apprenticeship on the site to the maximum extent allowed by state and federal law; Commitment to targeted hire for apprentices, where at least 50% of apprentices hired overall are targeted workers and 10% of apprentices in each period are targeted workers; Commitment to hiring the maximum number of apprentices allowed by law; and Commitment to requiring all contractors and subcontractors to submit hiring plans during bidding that outline how they plan to comply with these requirements. 6. Health Insurance, Benefits, Paid Sick Days, State of Emergency Pay (10%) Use of a proactive, comprehensive worker health and safety plan for work on the project Provision of health insurance to all direct employees and employees of contractors and subcontractors; Provision of paid sick days to all direct employees and employees of contractors and subcontractors; Provision of payment for days when a State of Emergency is declared for all direct employees and employees of contractors and subcontractors; and Provision of other benefits for all direct employees and employees of contractors and subcontractors. 7. Health & Safety Reporting, Retaliation Prevention (10%) A clear mechanism for workers to report health and safety concerns to their employer; An agreement that the Proposing CMAR will assume joint liability for violation of all labor laws, including worker health and safety laws committed by their contractors and subcontractors; and Clear policies to prevent and prohibit retaliation against workers who raise concerns regarding health, safety, or other conditions on the project, whether raised to the CMAR, a contractor, or a subcontractor. 8. Transparency, Monitoring, and Compliance (25%) Commitment to permitting a Community Monitoring Committee established by Stand with Dignity to monitor the airport project site; Page 9 of 10

10 Commitment to allowing the Community Monitoring Committee to perform, though not limited to, the following: o The opportunity to meet with workers on the project site for at least 2 hours within 2 weeks of their hire; o The ability to receive complaints regarding non-compliance with agreements signed regarding the airport project site; o Access to information needed to monitor the airport project site; o Meeting with the CMAR and representatives of contractors and subcontracts once a month; o The right to call contractors to appear and discuss compliance problems and determine their cause; o The right to establish a corrector plan for contractors not in compliance with any agreement signed regarding the airport project and of which Stand with Dignity is a signatory; o Ability to deputize community members to conduct community jobsite monitoring; o Power to recommend to CMAR and appropriate governmental bodies additional penalties for repeated and sustained failure to comply, including financial penalties and debarment. A signed Community Benefits Agreement, Project Labor Agreement, Community Workforce Agreement, or Agreement with Stand with Dignity; Commitment to making information available to the Community Monitoring Committee, including, at minimum: certified payroll data to assess compliance with wage and hiring requirements, and a monthly list of contractors and subcontractors hired on the site. Page 10 of 10