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PUC says project labor agreement near final; unions and contractors resolving craft assignment and benefits issues
Summary
PUC staff reported major unions have approved a proposed project labor agreement; dispute‑resolution procedures and no‑strike provisions are included, and annuities will vest while defined‑benefit pensions have a five‑year vesting requirement.
Carol Eisen, who updated the commission on the project labor agreement (PLA), said national craft associations voted to approve the agreement and local craft affiliates are signing on. She said a primary outstanding issue concerns local craft‑assignment procedures for prefabricated materials but that an appellate arbitration procedure is part of the PLA and that the agreement contains a no‑strike clause.
Eisen told commissioners that annuities in the plan will vest and that the defined‑benefit portion will have a minimum five‑year vesting requirement. She said the PLA includes language to make best efforts to assist workers who seek to vest and that staff had consulted the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement. Commissioners and staff discussed protections for workers who leave before vesting and portability strategies; Eisen said annuities are immediately vesting where offered and defined‑benefit protections vary across crafts.
Commissioners asked whether the PLA would require contractors to participate in joint health‑care trusts and whether smaller contracts (under $5 million) would be excluded from the PLA requirement; staff said work under $5 million was excluded from the PLA threshold as presented, and that the commission would be asked to consider the finalized document at a future meeting once local signatures and Sunshine‑law timing are resolved.
