1-M ID 21-100 ***RESOLUTION - Directing City staff and the City Attorney to negotiate and prepare a project labor agreement for citywide public work of improvement projects (Subject to Mayor's Veto)
The Fresno Chamber of Commerce has had a long-standing opposition to the blanket use of project labor agreements in city projects. We are supportive of seeing local talent developed, trained and hired, but we believe that a fair and competitive process that allows all companies the opportunity to bid for city projects can provide similar results while leading to lower costs to the taxpayer. While we recognize that the majority of the Council will likely vote in support of today's resolution, we strongly urge that the ad-hoc committee being proposed here include members of the public, including representatives of non-union companies. The Chamber is willing to serve on such a committee and participate in negotiations. This Council has set a precedent in recent years of striving to create an open and transparent process with as much public input as possible, and we respect that. This should be no exception. Collecting input from all segments of the community is essential, and we know the Council will be interested in working through the concerns of all interested parties in a subcommittee setting prior to making a decision. We stand ready to help facilitate these conversations in any way, in hopes of developing a fair and equitable process for all local companies.
The Fresno Chamber of Commerce has had a long-standing opposition to the blanket use of project labor agreements in city projects. We are supportive of seeing local talent developed, trained and hired, but we believe that a fair and competitive process that allows all companies the opportunity to bid for city projects can provide similar results while leading to lower costs to the taxpayer. While we recognize that the majority of the Council will likely vote in support of today's resolution, we strongly urge that the ad-hoc committee being proposed here include members of the public, including representatives of non-union companies. The Chamber is willing to serve on such a committee and participate in negotiations. This Council has set a precedent in recent years of striving to create an open and transparent process with as much public input as possible, and we respect that. This should be no exception. Collecting input from all segments of the community is essential, and we know the Council will be interested in working through the concerns of all interested parties in a subcommittee setting prior to making a decision. We stand ready to help facilitate these conversations in any way, in hopes of developing a fair and equitable process for all local companies.