The Santa Barbara City Council on Tuesday evening voted 6-1 to approve a controversial project labor agreement that would require some contractors who do business with the city to use union laborers.
The PLA, as it is known, would require the city to use unionized labor on construction projects valued at $5 million or more.
Project labor agreements are pre-hire collective-bargaining documents that establish standard terms and conditions for construction projects. They are typically negotiated between the project owner and the local building trade unions council and individual construction trade unions. The agreements are negotiated before any advertisement for bids. The contractor and all subcontractors of any tier must sign onto the agreement before performing any covered work.
“Simply put, a PLA is just good public policy,” Councilwoman Meagan Harmon said. “It’s just good public policy. It’s good public policy for us to keep local work for local workers. It’s good public policy for us to work actively and cooperatively with our local unions. Our local unions provide the pathway for good, sustainable, well-paid careers, not jobs, but careers.”
Councilman Mike Jordan cast the sole vote in opposition.
“The good public policy that (Harmon) described and narrated on, which is entirely a great thing to ascribe to do, has been accomplished for decades and decades here already by our local employers who do our projects,” Jordan said. “Sometimes these local employers, and many times their employees, are even multigenerational community members, not just someone who is here and gone to retire in Arizona.”
The proposal has sparked a philosophical debate over where the City of Santa Barbara should turn for its large construction projects. Supporters of a PLA say that companies that want to do business with the city should use local, union-trained workers. Critics say that the effort to shift toward a PLA is a union money grab, pushed by the Democratic Party and its endorsed candidates. They also say that non-union workers perform jobs at a high level, and it’s incorrect to assume that union laborers are more qualified.
As it stands now, the PLA calls for at least 50% local workers. In another category of “core workers,” such as project managers and foremen, up to three can be non-union, and after that, it must be a 1-to-1 ratio until six core workers are reached.
“It has been a non-union contracting world here in the city of Santa Barbara,” Mayor Cathy Murillo said. “This program makes it so that the work stays local, that it is good union work. I think it is good public policy.”
Councilwoman Kristen Sneddon made an effort to bridge the divide over the issue. She tried to acknowledge and recognize the strengths of both union and non-union workers.
“I am very happy that we are moving away from the language of ‘either/or’ and whether some work is better or not,” Sneddon said. “We have many local businesses that are struggling right now, and they also do fantastic work. So, to me, it’s really not about the quality of the work. I appreciate and support the quality work of trained apprentices and journeymen and also our local craftsman and businesses. It is really important that we support both.”
But in a dynamic exchange that overshadowed much of the discussion during the meeting, Sneddon also expressed frustration with Murillo counting votes before everyone had spoken, which came across as though Murillo was more concerned about the proposal passing than hearing everyone’s comments.
“Ms. Sneddon, I know the motion is not what you want,” Murillo said before Sneddon was ready to speak.
Sneddon fired back, waving her hands: “How do you know that? This was an opportunity to have paused for a moment to meet some expectations in a different way. I would not have said that had you not said, ‘I know you don’t like the motion.’
“Once you counted to four and you said, ‘These people are in complete agreement,’ and you didn’t even have an acknowledgement of what anyone else might have said on it, and there are seven of us here.”
Murillo didn’t let the comment go. She responded to Sneddon: “We did have a period of deliberations, and I didn’t hear anyone take up your causes.”
That comment sparked Councilman Jordan to retort: “I can’t believe you just said that. I echo many of Councilmember Sneddon’s remarks. I agree with everything Councilmember Sneddon just said.”
The exchange did prompt the motion-maker, Eric Friedman, and the seconder, Harmon, to put in a requirement that 50%, instead of no requirement, of the union workers be local, at Sneddon’s request so that she could support the motion.
Body Cameras Coming to Police Department
The Santa Barbara Police Department wants to move toward body-worn cameras.
The City Council is scheduled to formally vote to purchase the cameras at next Tuesday’s meeting
“The cameras provide greater accountability, and it improves our community relations,” Police Chief Lori Luhnow said.
She said officers are excited about the cameras, but that “it is not necessarily a panacea for all societal problems.”
The department plans to roll out the cameras during the next three to six months.
In addition, aggravated assault, burglary, grand theft auto and homicides increased in Santa Barbara in 2020.
“This year has been like no other,” Luhnow said.
In addition, she announced two new community liaison positions to “engage with the community on meaningful neighborhood partnerships.”
Luhnow said officers Adrian Gutierrez and Heather Clark will fill those roles.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
