Supervisors continue debate on proposed citywide Project Labor Agreement after hours of testimony

San Francisco supervisors on Wednesday spent most of their Government Audit and Oversight Committee meeting on a proposed citywide Project Labor Agreement, introducing negotiated amendments but stopping short of a final vote after hours of public testimony.

The ordinance, as amended in recent negotiations described by City Administrator Naomi Kelly and Supervisors Aaron Peskin, Safaie and Katy (Feuer), would require a PLA for covered improvement projects above a negotiated threshold and sets the PLA to include the Equal Benefits Ordinance and existing local-hire requirements. Kelly told the committee the parties had agreed on a working definition of “core employees,” that cost would be interpreted as construction cost only, and that the building trades would provide an affiliate list to attach to the legislation.

The PLA proponents — organized labor and many apprentices and journeymen who testified — said the measure would ensure prevailing wages, benefits, apprenticeship pathways and safer job sites. Tim Paulson of the San Francisco Building Trades Council said the parties had addressed LBE concerns during negotiations and urged supervisors to move the policy forward. Joshua Arce, director of CityBuild, said the pre-apprenticeship program depends on union apprenticeship pathways and that PLAs have worked on many public projects to place CityBuild graduates into registered apprenticeships.

Opponents — including many certified Local Business Enterprises (LBEs), small contractors and trade associations such as Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) — warned the PLA as drafted could make some small LBEs noncompetitive on covered jobs, urged a higher threshold (many speakers recommended $20 million), and asked for carve-outs or exemptions for LBEs and trucking/subcontracting trades. Multiple speakers asked that the Small Business Commission, contract monitoring division and other departments sign off on a final text and data-driven safeguards.

Supervisor Aaron Peskin moved a package of amendments summarized by the city administrator; the clerk recorded that the amendments were accepted without objection and the committee voted to continue the full PLA ordinance to the call of the chair to allow further negotiation and drafting. Peskin told the room he favored “do no harm” metrics and suggested the city controller help define data that would be tracked, including impacts on LBEs, demographic outcomes, apprenticeship placement and work stoppages.

What’s next: The committee agreed to return to the item at a future GAO meeting. Supervisors emphasized that further negotiations should be data-driven and that any final PLA would be calibrated to preserve the city’s local-hire and LBE goals.

Quote: “A project labor agreement really is about stability and continuity of the delivery of construction services to a city,” Supervisor Peskin said, adding that the PLA should be negotiated to avoid unintended harm to LBEs.

Ending: The committee introduced and accepted more limited amendments but deferred a final vote to allow completion of drafting and additional stakeholder negotiations.