The Sacramento City Council voted Aug. 21 to amend its city code and adopt the Local Hire and Community Workforce Training Program, which requires contractors to use a 50 percent local workforce on most city-funded projects of $1 million or more, according to www.constructiondive.com.
Additionally, the program requires that 20 percent of apprentices on covered projects be "priority apprentices" who live in economically disadvantaged areas or are veterans, prior offenders, recipients of public assistance, foster youths, homeless individuals or women. The program also requires that 50 percent of the budgets for two major city projects, including the renovation of the Sacramento Convention Center, be spent with local businesses in certain counties and that 15 percent of those businesses be small, regional companies.
The sample agreement on the city council's agenda includes a provision stating: "Contractor(s) performing construction work on the project described in the agreement shall, in filling craft job requirements, utilize and be bound by the registration facilities and referral systems established or authorized by the local unions." Some nonunion contractors argue this will hinder their participation in city work; those who support the agreement say nonunion contractors perform about 60 percent of city work and nonunion workers can register with the unions so they can be included in the local hire program.
Unlike some other local hire mandates, Sacramento's mandate allows contractors to hire from any source if unions cannot provide them with the necessary workers within 48 hours of a request. The ordinance does not include punitive measures that have been employed in other cities when construction companies have failed to meet the goals. For example, during construction of the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, the city fined construction companies that didn't meet the 51 percent local hire requirements a total of $5.2 million.
As communities push for more local hiring, labor shortages in the U.S. continue to make it difficult for contractors to adequately staff jobs.
