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 those firms to bid and participate while requiring compliance with prevailing wage and the agreement’s labor-relations rules.

What the agreement does: The document will be incorporated into bid specifications for covered projects and requires contractors to use qualified, trained craft labor and to comply with no-strike/settlement provisions and dispute-resolution procedures. It identifies outreach and training programs the trades council will support, including MC3 (a pre-apprenticeship program), Helmets to Hardhats and, by council direction, the Carpenter’s Career Connection program. The agreement also includes an administrator role to monitor hiring goals and project-by-project compliance and a requirement that the unions and contractors use “best efforts” to recruit and refer local hires drawn from tiers of geography (first Jurupa Valley zip codes, then Riverside County, then San Bernardino County).

“Community hiring agreements enable local hiring and help us manage complex construction projects efficiently,” said Albert Duarte, executive director for the San Bernardino–Riverside Building and Construction Trades Council, in a presentation to the council. “They ensure that workers are trained, skilled and qualified to be on the projects and set local hiring goals that stimulate the local economy.”

City Attorney Peter Thorson told the council the agreement is authorized under California Public Contract Code section 2500 and that it preserves the city’s control over project scope and bidding while enabling the city to require prevailing wage and other standard public-works protections.

Implementation and monitoring: Council members directed staff and the agreement’s administrator to report back to the council on outcomes at least twice a year. The administrator will track project-level local-hire metrics, apprenticeship referrals and the use of named training pipelines. The agreement also contains language to permit a limited number of contractors’ existing core employees to remain on covered jobs.

Voices from labor and the community: Multiple union representatives and local trade business agents spoke in support at the public hearing, saying the agreement helps workers stay closer to home, reduces long commutes and connects youth to career paths through high-school CTE and community college partnerships. “Agreements like this will keep my neighbors here and keep the money here,” said Lehi Sina Malauulu, San Bernardino business representative for Sheet Metal Workers Local 105.

Council action: A resolution adopting the community workforce agreement passed unanimously (5–0). Council members also added the Carpenter’s Career Connection program to the list of recognized outreach programs in the agreement and directed staff to return regular reports on hiring metrics.

What the council did not do: The agreement applies only to city public-works contracts as specified; it does not automatically apply to private development or to projects that do not meet the stated thresholds.

What comes next: Staff and the building trades’ administrator will begin pre-job meetings on covered projects and will provide progress reports to council twice yearly, allowing the council to review whether local-hire goals are being met and whether additional steps are needed to help local, small contractors participate.