Making Development Work for Local Residents

1
Making Development Work for Local Residents

• Policy Frameworks and Programs for Successful
  Construction-Industry Workforce Development
  Strategies
• Kathleen Mulligan-Hansel, Ph.D.

2
Construction Careers Basics

• Goal is to create construction career
  opportunities!
• Job quality standards
• Job access requirements
• Job readiness infrastructure
• It is critical to do all three!
• Key Caveats
• Local, State, Federal
• Whats the right policy? Local context!

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Construction Careers Basics

• Policies and agreements create demand for new
  workers (community benefits agreement, project
  labor agreement, local government or
  redevelopment agency policy)
• A good program creates a pipeline of new workers
  ready to take those jobs pre-apprenticeship,
  apprentices, journey-level workers
• Getting new workers into high quality
  construction jobs have to create more
  opportunity for good firms to get the work
• Apprenticeship/journey-level
• Relationships are key work with building trades
  leaders to identify and implement opportunities
  for new workers

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Construction Industry Job Quality
Job Quality Indicator Low Road Practice Policy Solution
Safety Little or no safety training Require OSHA 10 hour
Wage/hour compliance No documentation of wage/hour payment outright violations Require to demonstrate no violations in past three years
Sustainable wages, benefits Low wages (8.50, or less), no health insurance Require to pay prevailing wages Require provision of health insurance
Benefits of employment Misclassification of workers as independent contractors Require contractors to show they have hired employees
Training No investment in training Require to participate in certified apprenticeship program pay into training trust fund
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Strategies for Establishing Job Quality

• Community Workforce Agreement (negotiated among
  developer, contractors, construction unions)
• Require payment of prevailing wages
• Establish responsible contractor standards
• Require apprenticeship utilization
• Establish Best Value Contracting Process

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Construction Industry Job Access

• Journey-level vs. apprentices
• Careers vs. work
• Unions vs. high road
• the list
• Require firms to use workers on the list
• Find ways to get new workers on the list and make
  sure they get called
• Name call, zip coding, direct entry

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Strategies for Establishing Job Access

• Community Workforce Agreement
• Targeted hire requirements neighborhood,
  household income, targeted categories (public
  assistance, criminal justice), pre-appr. graduate
• First source referral systems
• Apprenticeship utilization
• Responsible contractor standards
• Best Value Contracting process

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Strategies for Establishing Job Access

• CHALLENGES
• Aggregation of work
• Strong pre-apprenticeship programs necessary to
  supply workers
• Low-road contractors may appear to have easier
  compliance

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Examples

• Community Workforce Agreement
• Community Redevelopment Agency of LA Construction
  Careers Policy passed Feb 2008
• Any development that receives 1 million or more
  in financing, or built on CRA owned land
• Project Labor Agreement
• Targeted hiring 30 of work hours performed by
  residents of low-income neighborhoods or
  hard-to-employ workers
• Anticipated impact 170 million in construction,
  5000 new jobs for low-income people

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Examples

• Targeted Hire/Prevailing Wage Requirement
• Milwaukee MORE Ordinance, passed April 2009
• Any development subsidized with 1 million or
  more of public funding
• Must pay prevailing wage for all construction
• Use citys first-source referral system
• 40 of work hours performed by targeted hires
• Have worked less than 1200 hours in the preceding
  12 months
• Have not worked in the preceding 30 days or
• Have a household income at or below the federal
  poverty guidelines.
• Department of City Development Report 11 of last
  23 subsidized developments would have been
  covered.

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Examples

• Responsible Contractor Standards
• Atlanta BeltLine authorizing language requires
  community benefits, passed 2005
• Construction Career Ladder policy developed by
  Georgia Stand Up (not yet adopted)
• Anticipate 48,000 construction jobs over 10 years
• Construction Career Ladder Policy responsible
  contractor, first source, prevailing wage, money
  for training

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Examples

• Atlanta BeltLine Responsible Contractor Standards
• Must demonstrate compliance in order to work on
  the BeltLine
• Are appropriately licensed and insured
• Have a proven track record of satisfactorily
  performing the work required
• Are providing the full benefits of employment to
  workers
• Are utilizing workers that are highly skilled and
  trained
• Has access to sufficient workforce to complete
  the job
• Is in compliance with related BeltLine and City
  of Atlanta policies, such as local hiring or
  first source
• Provides OSHA approved training and safety plans
• Have not been in violation under previous
  contracts with the city, BeltLine or ADA

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Examples

• Direct Entry, Pre-apprenticeship graduate
• Santa Clara County Building Trades Council/De
  Anza Foothills Technical College construction
  careers agreement (San Jose area)
• University Hospital PLA (Cleveland)
• Malloy Initiative, NYC Public Housing Authority

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Strategies

• Get language into every official document state
  plan, guidance, rfp, contracts, etc.
• Requirement vs. preference
• Build relationships with trades
• Organize locally to implement