PITTSBURGH, PA (May 29, 2018) Mayor William Peduto, in conjunction with the city's Construction Industry Task Force, today signed two Executive Orders supporting growth of the construction industry and access to family-supporting union jobs for city residents.
The Orders relate to project labor agreements (PLAs) and workforce partnerships.
PLAs are employment agreements between contractors and labor organizations on construction projects. They provide access to a reliable supply of well-trained, highly-skilled workers and help projects get completed on-time and on-budget.
In Pittsburgh they would apply to city-managed projects of $500,000 or more and be subject to oversight by a Project Labor Agreement Review Committee. Minority workers would comprise at least 12% on the workforce on such projects, and the projects would continue to be held to the city's minority and women-owned contracting goals of 18% and 7% respectively.
The workforce partnership order recognizes that minorities and women are underrepresented in the construction industry, and more efforts are needed to boost construction career opportunities in a time when the industry is in need of well-trained workers.
The Construction Industry Task Force is already working on initiatives to bring more minorities and women into the apprenticeship and work site pipeline, and today's Order commits $350,000 for a Workforce Development Fund to support outreach and recruitment efforts including a pre-apprenticeship bridge program, online applications, website portals, and data sharing to track the initiative. The Pittsburgh Regional Building Trades Council has committed $100,000 and the City of Pittsburgh $250,000.
"We believe these two steps are raising the bar for city construction projects and building a pipeline to the worksite for people who have traditionally been excluded," Mayor Peduto said.
The Orders are the result of a year of work by Construction Industry Task Force partners including: City Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle and Corey O'Connor; Pittsburgh Trades Institute; Community Empowerment Association; A. Philip Randolph Association; Intro to the Trades at the Energy Innovation Center; Oxford Development; Pittsburgh Regional Building Trades Council; Builders Guild of Western PA; Partner4Work; and City of Pittsburgh departments.
Copies of the Orders are availalble here (Workforce) and here (PLAs).
