Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
State Center Trustees Consider PLA for West Fresno Campus
gvw_nancy_price
By Nancy Price, Multimedia Journalist
Published 5 years ago on
March 9, 2020

Share

State Center Community College District trustees are considering a project labor agreement for the West Fresno Campus that gives hiring priority for construction trades jobs to State Center-trained apprentices and graduates.
The agreement also gives priority for subcontracting jobs to businesses owned by State Center graduates, in what is called a “carve out.” Firms owned by State Center graduates would be eligible for contracts of under $600,000 and would not be subject to the PLA — in other words, those companies could hire nonunion workers.
Those contracts could not exceed 5% of the total, now estimated at $86.5 million.
The State Center agreement with the Fresno, Madera, Tulare, Kings Building and Construction Trades Council applies only to the West Fresno Campus project, a satellite campus of Fresno City College that will be built at Church Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard in southwest Fresno. Classes to be offered there include nursing and automotive technology.
A public hearing on the proposed agreement and board action is scheduled for Tuesday’s meeting, which will begin at 4:30 p.m. at Reedley College.

More Jobs For District Students, Graduates

The district also is establishing targeted goals for hiring, including:

  • Journey employees who are district residents will be hired for at least 50% of the project’s work hours, with preference to hiring State Center graduates. Journey employees are those who have completed their apprenticeship.
  • State Center apprentices will be hired for more than half of the work hours specified for apprentices.
  • Prime contractors will be encouraged to use subcontractors who are State Center graduates.

State Center graduates are defined as anyone who has completed a qualifying certificate program, earned an associate degree or completed 60 units through any State Center educational program, district spokeswoman Lucy Ruiz said.

Agreement Has Limits

There are some caveats to the proposed agreement that will affect potential hires, Ruiz said.
For example, she said, some unions have rules that would prohibit putting State Center graduates at the front of the hiring line, and some unions do not allow initiation fees to be waived for nonunion workers hired for a job covered by a project labor agreement.
In addition, under the PLA, contractors would be allowed to hire some “core” nonunion workers who would already be covered by the contractor’s healthcare plan. But the contractor would still have to pay into the union’s health and welfare trust funds for those workers, which would result in double coverage and increased health-care premium costs for the worker, Ruiz said.
If the worker decided to opt out of the contractor’s coverage and be covered only by the union’s plan, there would be a waiting period that could result in a gap in coverage, she said.

Similar To Fresno Unified PLA

The State Center agreement comes on the heels of a similar deal with the multi-county trades council that was recently approved by the Fresno Unified school board. That agreement is for building the Juan Felipe Herrera Elementary School in southeast Fresno.
In addition, Fresno Unified trustees approved a memorandum of understanding with the trades council that will apply to future projects. It specifies that the union will try to hire five new pre-apprentice and first-year apprentice program graduates per union per year for indentured apprenticeships, with training through State Center’s MC3 program.
Chuck Riojas, financial secretary/treasurer of the trades council, said the memorandum would help create a “pipeline” of students from public schools and community colleges to union trades jobs.
Critics say such agreements cause higher project costs and exclude nonunion workers, while proponents say that the no-strike clauses ensure that projects will be completed on time and don’t lead to higher costs.

DON'T MISS

Merced’s Iconic Laura Fountain Returns to Splendor With $300K Restoration

DON'T MISS

If You Thought Trump Wasn’t Serious About Deportations, Look at His First Appointments

DON'T MISS

Biden EPA to Charge First-Ever ‘Methane Fee’ for Emissions Waste by Oil and Gas Companies

DON'T MISS

Trump Picks Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to Be Ambassador to Israel

DON'T MISS

At the Pandemic’s Start, Americans Began Drinking More. They Still Are.

DON'T MISS

Last GOP Congressman Anchored in Democratic LA County Concedes in Race Against Former NASA Exec

DON'T MISS

Aid Groups Say Israel Misses US Deadline to Boost Humanitarian Aid Entering Gaza

DON'T MISS

Speaker Mike Johnson Says Republicans Are ‘Ready to Deliver’ on Trump’s Agenda

DON'T MISS

Wall Street Slips as the Trump Trade Cools

DON'T MISS

49ers Coach Kyle Shanahan Says Players’ Sideline Spat Has Been ‘Squashed’

UP NEXT

US Regulators Investigating Whether Engines on 1.4 Million Hondas Might Fail

UP NEXT

When to Catch the Last Supermoon of the Year

UP NEXT

Mattel Says It ‘Deeply’ Regrets Misprint on ‘Wicked’ Dolls Packaging That Links to Porn Site

UP NEXT

4B Movement: After the Election, a Call for Women to Swear Off Men

UP NEXT

Homeowners’ Effort to Leave Sierra Unified Ends With County Ed Rejection

UP NEXT

FBI Thwarts Iranian Murder-for-Hire Plan Targeting Donald Trump

UP NEXT

Wave of Racist Texts After Election Prompts FBI Scrutiny

UP NEXT

Clovis’ Measure A and Sanger’s Measure M Get Good News with Thursday Vote Update

UP NEXT

Americans Seek Fresh Start Abroad as Election Sparks Expat Interest

UP NEXT

Former Fresno State Bull Rider, a Vietnam Vet, Calls Central Valley Honor Flight ‘Life-Changing’

Nancy Price,
Multimedia Journalist
Nancy Price is a multimedia journalist for GV Wire. A longtime reporter and editor who has worked for newspapers in California, Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Kansas, Nancy joined GV Wire in July 2019. She previously worked as an assistant metro editor for 13 years at The Fresno Bee. Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her hobbies include singing with the Fresno Master Chorale and volunteering with Fresno Filmworks. You can reach Nancy at 559-492-4087 or Send an Email

Trump Picks Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to Be Ambassador to Israel

46 mins ago

At the Pandemic’s Start, Americans Began Drinking More. They Still Are.

1 hour ago

Last GOP Congressman Anchored in Democratic LA County Concedes in Race Against Former NASA Exec

1 hour ago

Aid Groups Say Israel Misses US Deadline to Boost Humanitarian Aid Entering Gaza

2 hours ago

Speaker Mike Johnson Says Republicans Are ‘Ready to Deliver’ on Trump’s Agenda

2 hours ago

Wall Street Slips as the Trump Trade Cools

2 hours ago

49ers Coach Kyle Shanahan Says Players’ Sideline Spat Has Been ‘Squashed’

2 hours ago

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott Will Have Season-Ending Surgery on Torn Hamstring

2 hours ago

Judge Delays Ruling on Whether to Scrap Trump’s Conviction in Hush Money Case

2 hours ago

Songwriters Hall of Fame Unveils Star-Studded 2025 Nominees, From Eminem to Janet Jackson

2 hours ago

Merced’s Iconic Laura Fountain Returns to Splendor With $300K Restoration

A landmark from days of old when Merced was known as “Fountain City” is back, fully restored for new generations to appreciate. ...

33 mins ago

33 mins ago

Merced’s Iconic Laura Fountain Returns to Splendor With $300K Restoration

37 mins ago

If You Thought Trump Wasn’t Serious About Deportations, Look at His First Appointments

45 mins ago

Biden EPA to Charge First-Ever ‘Methane Fee’ for Emissions Waste by Oil and Gas Companies

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump talks with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee during a roundtable at the Drexelbrook Catering & Event Center, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, in Drexel Hill, Pa. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
46 mins ago

Trump Picks Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to Be Ambassador to Israel

1 hour ago

At the Pandemic’s Start, Americans Began Drinking More. They Still Are.

1 hour ago

Last GOP Congressman Anchored in Democratic LA County Concedes in Race Against Former NASA Exec

2 hours ago

Aid Groups Say Israel Misses US Deadline to Boost Humanitarian Aid Entering Gaza

2 hours ago

Speaker Mike Johnson Says Republicans Are ‘Ready to Deliver’ on Trump’s Agenda

Search

Send this to a friend