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Baltimore board approves first citywide project labor agreement for four DPW utility projects
Summary
The Board of Estimates approved a project labor agreement between Baltimore City and the Baltimore DC Metro Building & Construction Trades Council covering four DPW utility projects. Supporters said the PLA will boost local hiring and reduce change orders; critics warned it could disadvantage nonunion minority contractors and sought stronger accountability and training commitments.
The Baltimore City Board of Estimates on Jan. 7 approved a project labor agreement (PLA) between the Department of Public Works and the Baltimore DC Metro Building and Construction Trades Council that applies to four DPW utility projects, including the Dundalk Pumping Station rehabilitation and major pumping-station upgrades.
Deputy Director Alan Robinson told the board the PLA is focused on growing a local, skilled workforce and limiting long-term cost overruns by requiring winning contractors and most subcontractors to sign a letter of assent and comply with collective-bargaining provisions and apprenticeship programs approved by the U.S. Department of Labor. Robinson said the PLA sets local-hire targets of 20% of journey-level hours and 50% of apprenticeship hours for Baltimore residents and preserves MBE/WBE goals, while exempting small minority- and women-owned firms and subcontract work valued at about $500,000 or less from apprenticeship requirements.
Opponents, including attorney Robert Fulton DeShield speaking on behalf of the Baltimore Coalition For Fair And Open Competition, and Sean Malone of the Maryland Minority Contractors Association, argued the PLA functions as mandatory for bidders and therefore disadvantages open-shop contractors. DeShield said referral practices at union hiring halls and required contractor contributions to union funds raise legal and fairness concerns. Malone urged adding a city-side termination-for-convenience clause, clearer dispute-resolution language, measurable accountability for union hiring halls, and explicit protections allowing local contractors to bring their existing workforce onto projects.
Ray Baker, Maryland director for the Baltimore DC Building Trades Council, said the trades are expanding training centers in the city, including a planned carpenters facility near Cross Street Market, and highlighted apprenticeship pipelines that include returning citizens. Law department attorney Michael Mullen said the PLA as drafted incorporates the city's MBED/SMBAD participation requirements and that arbitration provisions are standard for PLAs; he said outside counsel reviewed legal questions about payment of contributions to union funds and did not conclude they were unlawful.
Board members pressed for strict enforcement and reporting. Comptroller Bill Henry and others asked that SMBAD and procurement staff receive full authority to monitor contract-level MBE/WBE performance; Robinson and the law department said standard city procurement documents will apply to each contract task and that individual projects can be excluded from PLA coverage if needed.
After the public testimony and discussion, a motion to approve the PLA was made, seconded and approved by the board. Members said they expect close oversight of MBE/WBE goals, local-hire targets and apprenticeship outcomes as the projects proceed.
