Report compares MOU 35, project labor agreements and targeted hire program; personnel suggests apprenticeship pathways

At a Personnel and Hiring Committee meeting Councilmember Chip McCosker asked staff to report on hiring hall practices under Memorandum of Understanding 35 and how those practices compare with project labor agreements and the city's targeted local hire program.

Antonio Cepeda of the Chief Administrative Office Employee Relations Division told the committee that MOU 35 is a nonexclusive agreement negotiated between the city and the Los Angeles/Orange County Building and Construction Trades Council that allows departments to hire craft workers from hiring halls on an as‑needed basis. He said project labor agreements are distinct, exclusive arrangements tied to specific long‑term construction projects and that contractors hired under PLAs are not city employees.

Key findings presented by staff:
- MOU 35 members are generally paid under union master agreements, pay into Social Security and are not enrolled in city pension plans; the city pays certain fringe benefits on a per‑hour basis. Sick leave is the statutory benefit noted in the report.
- Personnel staff identified that two craft classifications represented under MOU 35 — electrical craft helper and communications electrician — already have an existing pathway into permanent civil service employment and that the electrician classification has an existing apprenticeship program.
- Personnel also identified 17 additional classifications that could be explored for apprenticeship programs and four classifications that might be appropriate for the city’s bridge‑to‑jobs program, which provides pathways to civil service for individuals with employment barriers.

Council members pressed staff on whether expanding classifications under MOU 35 could undermine work traditionally performed by laborers. Personnel replied that MOU 35 hires are ‘‘as needed’’ and do not occupy civil‑service position authorities, and that to staff knowledge the trades council had not raised a concern about displacement. Council members asked staff to follow up on any jurisdictional concerns.

Action: the committee voted to note and file the joint CAO and Personnel report. Roll call for item 3 showed Councilmember McCosker, Councilmember Rodriguez and Councilmember Hutt voting in favor.

Ending: staff said they will follow up on apprenticeship and bridge‑to‑jobs opportunities for specific craft classifications and check for any unresolved jurisdictional concerns raised by labor unions.