Jurupa Valley council approves community workforce agreement, sets 51% local-hire goal

Jurupa Valley City Council on Oct. 16 approved a community workforce agreement with the San Bernardino–Riverside Building and Construction Trades Council that will apply to city public-works projects with a value of $500,000 or more and to single-trade “specialty” contracts valued at $79,000 or more.

The measure, approved unanimously, adds an explicit local-hire target and formalizes partnerships with apprenticeship and outreach programs. Council members set a baseline local-hire goal of 51 percent and adopted a 65 percent “stretch” target for future progress. The agreement includes commitments to pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship pipelines, named programs and periodic reporting to the city.

Why it matters: Proponents said the agreement will keep construction paychecks and economic activity in Jurupa Valley, boost on-the-job training through apprenticeship programs and increase the number of residents working on city-funded construction. Opponents and some members of the public raised questions about the effect on small, nonunion local contractors; the final agreement retains a pathway for…