Meeting_Body
CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE
MAY 16, 2024
Subject
SUBJECT: PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENT/CONSTRUCTION CAREERS POLICY (PLA/CCP)
Action
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE status update on the Project Labor Agreement and Construction Careers Policy programs through the quarter ending December 2023.
Issue
ISSUE
In January 2012, the Board approved the Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council and the Construction Careers Policy (CCP), with a subsequent renewal in January 2017. The PLA/CCP encourages construction employment and training opportunities for members of economically disadvantaged areas throughout the United States on Metro’s construction projects. An added value of the PLA is that work stoppages are prohibited.
In addition, Metro’s PLA/CCP provides equitable opportunities for the historically underserved population, including women, with high-wage career opportunities in the construction industry.
Background
BACKGROUND
Consistent with the Board approved PLA and CCP (PLA/CCP), prime contractors are required to provide Metro with monthly reports detailing progress towards meeting the targeted worker hiring goals. Additionally, consistent with Metro’s Labor Compliance policy and federal Executive Order 11246 (EO 11246), the prime contractors provide Metro with worker utilization data by ethnicity and gender. In accordance with EO 11246, Metro’s program-wide goal for female participation in PLA/CCP construction projects is 6.90%.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
Metro’s PLA/CCP provides training and employment opportunities in the construction industry to individuals residing in economically disadvantaged areas and disadvantaged workers. Since Metro’s PLA/CCP inception and up to this reporting period, over $559 million in wages have been paid to individuals residing in economically disadvantaged areas, and over $104 million in wages paid to disadvantaged workers.
This report provides a status update on the construction contracts covered by the PLA/CCP, including an overview of the Diversity and Economic Opportunity Department (DEOD) staff’s efforts on female participation. This report provides an update on the PLA/CCP through the quarter ending December 2023 (Attachment A).
PLA/CCP Status Update
As of December 2023, there are 15 active construction contracts with PLA/CCP program requirements, including ten contracts subject to the Local Hire Initiative (from economically disadvantaged areas of LA County). Thirteen contractors exceeded the 40% Targeted Worker Goal (from economically disadvantaged areas), 11 exceeded the 20% Apprentice Worker Goal, and 10 exceeded the 10% Disadvantaged Worker Goal. Thirty-two completed construction contracts were subject to the PLA/CCP since inception of the program in 2012.
Overall (aggregate), PLA/CCP program-wide attainment of the three workforce goals has been met and exceeded due to a collaborative effort between Metro, the Building Trade Unions, and contractors.
The following tables represent the active construction projects as of the December 2023 quarterly reporting period.
Projects Subject to National Targeted Worker (from economically disadvantaged areas of the US)
Projects Subject to Local Hire Initiative (from economically disadvantaged areas of Los Angeles County) 
*Part of Metro’s PLA/CCP workforce requirement is the utilization of disadvantaged workers on projects. One of the nine criteria for a Disadvantaged Worker is having a
criminal record or other involvement with the criminal justice system. The data shown in the tables above (last column) is the percentage of Disadvantaged Workers (based on hours worked) that have criminal records or involvement with the criminal justice system and that have worked or are actively working on Metro’s PLA/CCP projects.
Local Hire Update
On April 4, 2024, the Federal Office of Management Budget (OMB) removed the federal prohibition on using geographic hiring preference popularly known as “Local Hire” through the release of the 2024 Revisions of their Uniform Guidance document under Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200.
Henceforth, Metro’s PLA and CCP Local Hire efforts will be permanent on federal and state-funded construction projects that have a minimum contract value of $2.5 million. Provided below is a list of anticipated construction projects wherein PLA/CCP local hire will be applicable.
|
1-105 Expressway (CM/GC) |
Div and Facilities Fire Alarm Replacement |
|
G-Line Progressive Design-Build |
Div 8 & CMF Bus Hoist Replacement |
|
LA Union Station and Esplanade Improv |
Crenshaw/LAX K-Line Paving |
|
1-605 South Street Off Ramp Improvements |
Rail Operation Control Chillers |
|
EB SR91 Atlantic to Cherry Improvements |
Division 9 Charging Infrastructure |
As of April 2024
Female Workers on Active Construction Projects
In November 2017, the Board approved a motion to encourage contractors on Metro construction projects to increase the participation of women by meeting or exceeding the nationwide female participation goal of 6.9% as set forth by Executive Order 11246. The motion directed the creation of a report card/score card system reflecting the attainment of the female participation goals for Metro Project Labor Agreement/Construction Careers Policy contractors that was established to encourage contractors to exceed the 6.9% female participation goal.
Below is the Female Participation Score Card as of December 2023.
The average female participation on Metro construction projects is currently 3.78% of total work hours, as compared to less than 2.0% on other non-Metro public works construction projects in the Southern California region. The national average for women in construction is below 3.0%.
Below is a chart of the number of females within the last four years on construction projects.
Number of females on Metro projects
Source: As reported by the prime contractors. This table counts each individual tradeswomen only once (no double counting), even if an individual worked on multiple projects.
The number of female workers on Metro projects decreased from 2022 to 2023 due to the completion of the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Corridor and Regional Connector Transit Corridor projects.
Staff are currently working with the unions and jobs coordinators to refer female workers who have completed their previous work assignments to other active Metro construction projects.
Staff understands the importance of increasing the percentage of female workers on Metro’s projects for both equity and workforce availability reasons and, as described below, are actively taking measures to increase female participation and opportunities.
Women Breaking Ground Website
On March 1, 2024, in celebration of Women’s History Month, LA Metro’s Joint Awareness Campaign launched a brand-new website, “Women Breaking Ground” (www.womenbreakground.com <http://www.womenbreakground.com/>). LA Metro’s “Women Breaking Ground” website gives women, who are interested in a career in construction, an avenue for learning about how to join an apprenticeship readiness training program and how to get connected to resources.
The website includes testimonials of women who have worked in the trades and gives an overview of their experience. The website is also a tool for women that are already in the trades to get connected to the unions, contractors, and more resources to be placed on a construction job.
The website was highlighted on Univision news telecast on March 11, 2024, and Telemundo/NBC4 news telecast on March 19, 2024.
The Women Breaking Ground website will run through FY2026 in partnership with the LA/OC Building Construction Trades Council.
In addition, individuals who have signed up through the website receive a response within 48 hours by the Council staff with the best course of action in starting a career in construction. Individuals who are ready to work are then referred to active Jobs Coordinators by Metro for possible indentureship and employment on Metro construction projects. There were over 50 individual sign ups through the end of March 2024 that were given information on pre-apprenticeship training.
Activities to Increase Construction Workforce Capacity
As reflected in the most recent Construction Market Analysis (CMA) report, the construction industry is faced with a workforce labor shortage which is a regional issue (see figure below). Metro understands this is a regional concern that needs to be addressed collaboratively with the building trade unions, key-stakeholders and the community.
Metro has met with the Executive Secretary (Mr. Ernesto Medrano) of the LA/OC Building and Construction Trades Council (LA/OCBCTC) and discussed the labor workforce shortage as reported in the Construction Market Analysis. Mr. Medrano will address the Construction Committee on May 16, 2024, to provide the LA/OCBCTC outlook on the workforce shortage as identified in the CMA report.
.
Source: Construction Market Analysis report
Metro continues to advance strategies to support, the outreach, recruitment, and retention of all workers in the disadvantaged workforce categories. These strategies, led by the PLA/CCP staff, are proactive measures that address the regional needs for additional workers.
Listed below are strategies implemented by Metro to increase the overall workforce capacity, with a specific focus on increasing female participation on Metro’s construction projects and the construction industry.
• Female Participation Score Card - Staff continues to grade each contractor’s performance quarterly by using a score card that reflects percentages of worked hours performed by females hired by Metro’s contractors to encourage meeting the 6.9% goal.
• Periodic Jobs Coordinator meetings - Staff conduct periodic meetings with job coordinators to discuss best practices and identify outreach and recruitment opportunities.
• Transition Coordination - Staff continues to assist female workers transitioning to other active or upcoming Metro projects as projects near the end of construction.
• Notice to Prime Contractors - Staff continues to issue notices to prime contractors not meeting the female participation goal at 25%, 50%, and 75% project completion.
• Women in the Trades Resource Guide (Attachment B) - Staff has developed a comprehensive guide to recruit, employ, and retain women in construction careers, to assist prime contractors in recruiting female workers.
• Collaboration with Unions - Staff has established a collaboration with the Laborers Union and Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters to directly refer female workers to the apprenticeship programs. Upon completion, participants are referred to Metro’s contractors for employment opportunities.
• Outreach - Staff continue to outreach to community-based organizations, pre-apprenticeship schools, and building trades to promote career opportunities and to increase female recruitment in the construction industry (Attachment C). As of this reporting period, staff participated in four job fairs which resulted in twenty individuals referred to job coordinators for pre-apprenticeship programs.
• Partnerships with the Los Angeles/Orange County Building and Construction Trades Council (LAOCBTC), and its Executive Secretary to focus on increasing the workforce in the construction industry, including prioritizing and dispatching of female workers on Metro construction projects.
o Metro is in collaboration with LAOCBTC, union trades, prime contractors, and community-based organizations to build future workforce capacity with a special focus on females has embarked on a Joint Awareness Campaign in promoting career opportunities in the construction industry.
In addition, the following are strategies under development to support workforce needs and to increase female participation on Metro’s projects:
• Metro and Laborers Union (Local 300) are collaborating to establish a tunnel worker training facility in the LA region. Currently, the only training facility for tunnel workers is in Seattle, Washington, which creates a hardship for local individuals to participate. Establishing a local tunnel worker training facility will help fulfill the LA region’s need for tunnel workers, with priority given to females interested in starting as tunnel/miner workers. As of this reporting period, the following efforts have been made.
o Laborers Training School has completed classroom safety training classes as a pre-requisite course prior to the actual hands-on tunnel training. Approximately 25 individuals have completed the classroom courses including 5 female participants. Laborers Union are continually recruiting female union members to participate in this specialized training.
o Metro is providing partial financial support for FY2024 for the tunnel worker training, purchase of PPE equipment and cost for the hands-on training for the participants. The hands-on training portion of the class will continue to be conducted in Seattle, Washington, until the Laborers Union and Laborers Training School secure a local working site to accommodate the hands-on portion of the tunnel training.
• Support the Women Build Metro LA (WBMLA) events. The WBMLA events are geared to introduce the construction career path for women throughout Los Angeles County. Staff has invited and encouraged Metro’s prime contractors to participate and recruit females interested in starting a career in construction.
• Collaborate with Women in Non-Traditional Employment Roles (WINTER) to seek grant opportunities to help empower, train, educate, and prepare women for transformative careers in the construction industry. In addition, Metro shall provide continuous employment referrals to female graduates of WINTER on Metro project sites.
• Metro DEOD conducted outreach to high schools in the Los Angeles region to promote careers in the construction industry and will continue to expand engagement with high schools to draw interest in the trades and create pipeline of opportunities. In addition, the SEED school is also exposing students to a range of careers which includes the infrastructure sector.
• Continue to collaborate with the LA County Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) and City of Los Angeles Economic Workforce Development Department (EWDD) in recruiting individuals interested in starting a career in construction and establishment of an ongoing referral system of individuals to pre-apprenticeship programs available through the LA County DEO network of services.
• Metro is in discussion with the Los Angeles Economic Workforce Development Department (EWDD) and the LAOCBCTC Apprentice Readiness Fund in establishing a regional collaboration in terms of recruitment and establishment of more pre-apprenticeship programs.
Furthermore, staff will continue to provide ongoing assessment of the female participation score card, monitoring of contractor’s performance, and recognition of contractors that successfully meet or exceed the 6.9% goal or demonstrate highly commendable efforts in the recruitment, retention, and/or professional development of women on Metro’s construction projects.
Metro will also continue to collaborate with the LA/OC Building Construction Trades Council and its union affiliates to assist in the recruitment efforts of workers.
Status Update on Board Motion 29
At the February 2023 meeting, the Board approved Motion 29 (Attachment D) by Directors Horvath, Mitchell, Bass, Hahn, and Dupont-Walker that directed the Chief Executive Officer to:
A.) Commission a refresh on the construction workforce disparity study and report back on findings and recommendations of the study in September 2023 (with the understanding that the disparity study might still be in progress).
B.) Report back on the potential application of cultural competency requirements in contractor and staff training related to working with historically underutilized populations in the trades, with a focus on tradeswomen, as well as similar qualitative metrics that can be used in Metro’s proposal evaluation and contracting processes; and
C.) Report back on the feasibility of creating bid preference incentives that can be applied to increase the number of women working on Metro funded construction projects, while not compromising the Agency’s race conscious contracting goals, including but not limited to: the history of a contractor’s compliance with Metro’s Female Utilization Goal; supporting working parents with the availability of dependent care spending account benefits in addition to access to child care; and working with organizations such as Women In Non-Traditional Employment Roles (WINTER) to apply best practices in future contracts, etc.
Metro has contracted with Estolano Advisors, a third-party consultant, to perform the Regional Construction Industry Workforce Disparity Study. The contract was awarded in March 2024, with a period of performance of 7.5 months, with a study report to be completed by November 2024. Staff shall report back to the Board the results, findings, and any recommendations of the study in January 2025.
Implementation of Strategic Plan Goals
IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS
Metro’s Project Labor Agreement/Construction Careers Policy (PLA/CCP) supports strategic plan goal #3 to enhance communities and lives through mobility and access to opportunity.
Equity Platform
EQUITY PLATFORM
Metro’s Project Labor Agreement and Construction Careers Policy continue to create employment opportunities for marginalized and vulnerable community members in the construction industry for workers with historical barriers to employment. In addition, through Executive Order (EO) 11246, Metro strives to diversify the workforce on construction projects to improve access to career opportunities and serve as a catalyst for improving the socio-economic status of minorities and women.
As of this reporting period, all active PLA/CCP construction projects have exceeded the minority participation goal of 28.30%. There are hundreds of disadvantaged workers that have benefitted in obtaining a meaningful career through Metro’s PLA/CCP program which resulted in over $104 million in paid wages to disadvantaged workers.
Metro has continued ongoing efforts undertaken by staff to increase female participation, including outreach to women in construction to obtain insight and best practices for contractors and female workers in the construction industry (details in Attachment B). In addition, Metro helps the Construction Building Trades unions to increase their female membership by encouraging contractors to hire/sponsor females into the construction trades. Staff attributes these strategies to contribute to an average female participation rate in Metro construction projects (3.78%) that is higher than historical participation rates in other non-Metro public works construction projects in the region (less than 2%) and the national average for women in construction (less than 3%). Additionally, staff monitors each project female attainment on a monthly basis and provides assistance to contractors to continually increase female participation.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Staff shall report back to the Board on the Workforce Disparity Study the results, findings, and appropriate staff recommendations in January 2025.
DEOD staff will continue to monitor the contractors’ efforts and initiate the various strategies and activities as outlined in this report. Staff will continue to monitor and deliver best practices, initiatives, and outreach efforts to promote awareness, engagement, and participation in construction career opportunities.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - PLA/CCP Quarterly Brochure
Attachment B - Women in the Trades Resource Guide
Attachment C - DEOD Outreach Activities
Attachment D - Board Motion 29
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Sidney Urmancheev, DEOD Representative (213) 922-5574
Angela Scott, Senior DEOD Representative (213) 922-1028
Michael Flores, Manager, DEOD (213) 922-6387
Wendy White, Director, DEOD (213) 922-2648
Tashai Smith, Executive Officer, DEOD (213) 922-2128
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by:
Sharon Gookin, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (213) 418-3101
