Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Labor Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Meriden committee authorizes project‑labor agreement to bolster CIF applications despite objections
Summary
Meriden officials voted to sign and submit a project‑labor agreement as part of a CIF application for 165 Miller Street to increase competitiveness and local hiring; union representatives highlighted apprenticeship and resident‑hire targets while some councilors warned PLAs can reduce competition and raise costs.
Meriden — The Finance Committee on Thursday authorized the city manager to sign a project‑labor agreement (PLA) and submit it with the CIF application for the 165 Miller Street renovation, a move meant to increase the application’s statutory priority and local hiring benefits.
City Manager Brian Daniels told the committee that DECD awards can give statutory priority to projects that submit a signed PLA and that staff had confirmed a signed agreement is required with the application in some recent cases. "This is another box we can check," Daniels said, framing the PLA as a competitiveness tool given reduced CIF funding statewide.
Joe Toner, executive director of the Connecticut State Building Trades, described the PLA as a pre‑hire agreement that sets wages, working conditions and hiring goals, and he urged the council to follow Platt and Maloney precedents where local residents captured construction jobs. "A project labor agreement ... guarantees the city qualified people working on your project," Toner said. Yolanda Rivera of the Building Trades Training Institute described training and apprenticeship programs aimed at placing Meriden residents, returning citizens and young people into union apprenticeship pipelines.
Several councilors opposed the PLA. Councilor Brunette warned that PLAs can limit bidding competition and be costly for taxpayers, saying past PLAs had raised such concerns. Council supporters countered that PLAs had delivered local jobs and apprenticeship pathways in prior Meriden projects.
The committee voted to authorize the signed PLA for inclusion with the CIF application; staff stressed the PLA would govern the project only if the grant is awarded and the city proceeds with the work—otherwise the signed agreement does not obligate the city to use a PLA for construction.
What happens next
If the CIF award is granted and the PLA is used, staff said the city would aim for resident‑hire goals described in the agreement (staff cited a 30% Meriden resident goal, 10% minority, 5% female, 5% veteran) and incorporate the Building Trades Training Institute supports. If the application is unsuccessful, the PLA obligation would not be triggered.
