Brothers and Sisters hope all are doing well! I just attended the State Building Trades and California Labor Federations Joint Legislative Conference in Sacramento Ca. During the conference I heard several speakers and attended some very informative workshops regarding 2024 Legislation and also on wage theft issues. With that the most important part of this conference that brings the most value to you is the legislative process. We review all of the proposed Bills that are coming forward in the new year develop an opinion on whether they should be supported or opposed and then on the final day of the conference meet with our State Assembly Members and Senators and lobby them to support the bills that will have the best outcome for organized Labor and to oppose bad bills that will hurt labor. I am going to speak on two bills that I personally lobbied for not only in group lobby process but outside the room one on one. They are as follows:

1. Senate Bill 984: 984 Project Labor Agreements. To summarize the Bill guarantees state construction projects of $35 million or more be governed by a Project Labor Agreement (PLA). This Bill ensures the States investment in public infrastructure is protected from costly delays, is executed efficiently, and provides an economic boom to the respective communities by using local workforce to perform the construction work.

When lobbying on SB 984 we pointed out that this bill just matches what President Biden has already put in place for Federal Projects. I also emphasized to our Assemblymembers and Senators that nobody in Labor would be upset if they wanted to try to amend the bill from a $35 million trigger to a lower amount. With that being said we would greatly appreciate support as it is written and are looking forward to it moving through both committees with overwhelming support and to the Governors Desk for approval. 

A state wide PLA will undoubtedly create more hours for the Members of LU294 and for the members of DC16 as a whole!

2. Assembly Bill 2182 Public Works Prevailing Wage. To Summarize: The omnibus bill ensures that workers are paid the current prevailing wages on projects. Grants representatives from joint labor management committees’ reasonable access to public works jobsites. Updates annualization of employer payments for California to be in line with the recent changes to federal rule. Improves the Civil Wage and Penalty Assessment (CWPA) review procedures and provides express statutory enforcement authority for certified payroll backup information.

When lobbying for AB2182 we pointed out that in some cases the non-signatory employers bidding on Construction Projects and awarded them are not held to the current prevailing wage when the job actually starts. In other words, let’s say a Union Contractor bids a job in 2024 and a non-Union Contractor bids the same job, but the job does not start until 2025. Obviously, wages will increase in 2025 increasing the prevailing wage for that year and if the Union Contractor was awarded the project, they are responsible to pay the current 2025 wage. However currently the Non-Union Contractor only has to pay the wage at the time of bid. This creates an unfair bidding process for the signatory employers. This Bill would end that. 

There were many other bills lobbied for. Please attend the April 2^nd, 2024 regular Union meeting and I will report out on all of them.

In Unity

Jeffery B Roberts

RD/DC16/LU294/IUPAT