Meeting_Body
CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE
SEPTEMBER 17, 2025
Subject
SUBJECT: PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENT/CONSTRUCTION CAREERS POLICY (PLA/CCP)
Action
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE the status update on the Project Labor Agreement and Construction Careers Policy programs through the quarter ending June 2025.
Issue
ISSUE
In January 2012, the Board approved the Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council (LAOCBCTC) and the Construction Careers Policy (CCP), with subsequent renewal in January 2017. The PLA and CCP encourage 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.
Metro’s PLA and CCP provides equitable opportunities for historically underrepresented populations, including women, with high-wage career opportunities in the construction industry.
This report also provides updates on initiatives that stem from the Construction Workforce Disparity Study (study) and Board Motion 13.1 by Directors Horvath, Hahn, Dutra, Solis, and Yaroslavsky, which was approved by the Board on March 25, 2025 (Attachment A).
Background
BACKGROUND
Consistent with the Board approved PLA and CCP (PLA/CCP), prime contractors must provide Metro with monthly reports detailing progress towards meeting targeted worker hiring goals. Additionally, consistent with Metro’s Labor Compliance Policy, prime contractors provide Metro with worker utilization data by ethnicity and gender. Metro’s program-wide goal for female participation in PLA/CCP construction projects is 6.90%.
In April 2024, Metro commissioned a study to evaluate the availability and participation of female workers necessary for upcoming infrastructure projects. The study aimed to address gaps in workforce diversity, with a particular emphasis on increasing female representation. It identified several barriers that hinder female participation, including challenges related to recruitment, retention, and career advancement in a traditionally male-dominated industry.
Since March 2025, staff have worked to address the study recommendations by collaborating with regional partners, Metro Leadership, and key stakeholders. The progress made in identifying opportunities related to the recommendations, as well as the next steps, has been included in this report.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
Metro’s PLA/CCP provides training and employment opportunities within the construction industry to individuals residing in economically disadvantaged areas and disadvantaged workers. Since Metro’s PLA/CCP inception in 2012 and up to this reporting period, over $665 million in wages have been paid to individuals residing in economically disadvantaged areas, an increase of 2.96% from the last quarter’s reporting, and over $129 million in wages paid to disadvantaged workers, an increase of 2.70% from the last quarter’s reporting. Overall wages expended for PLA workers on all active projects was over $27 million through the March – June 2025 quarter.
This report provides a status update on the construction contracts the PLA/CCP covers, including an overview of the Diversity and Economic Opportunity Department (DEOD) efforts to increase female participation. It also provides an update on the PLA/CCP through the quarter ending June 2025 (Attachment B).
A. PLA/CCP Status Update
As of June 2025 records, a total of 22 projects require compliance with PLA/CCP requirements. Among these, 19 are currently active construction projects. Out of these 19 projects, three contracts are subject to the National Targeted Worker Requirements, which focus on workers from economically disadvantaged areas; 14 contracts are subject to the Local Hire Initiative, which aims to hire workers from economically disadvantaged areas of Los Angeles County. The five of the 22 projects shown in Attachment G, Figure 1, have not yet begun construction phases.
Additionally, seven projects are in the pre-award phase, which staff anticipate will require application of the PLA/CCP, subject to award.
Projects Subject to National Targeted Worker Requirement (from economically disadvantaged areas of the US)
Of the contractors that are subject to the National Targeted Worker requirement two exceeded the 40% Targeted Worker Goal (from economically disadvantaged areas); one contractor exceeded the 20% Apprentice Worker Goal (individuals starting a career in construction); and two contractors exceeded the 10% Disadvantaged Worker Goal (Attachment C).
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. Since the program inception in 2012, 41 completed construction contracts have been subject to the PLA/CCP requirements.
Projects Subject to Local Hire Initiative (from economically disadvantaged areas of Los Angeles County
Of the contractors that oversee projects subject to the Local Hire Initiative requirement, 12 contractors exceeded the 40% Targeted Worker Goal (from economically disadvantaged areas); 12 contractors exceeded the 20% Apprentice Worker Goal (individuals starting a career in construction); and 12 contractors exceeded the 10% Disadvantaged Worker Goal (Attachment C).
B. Female Workers on Active Construction Projects
In November 2017, the Board approved Motion 33.1 (by Directors Kuehl, Hahn, Garcetti, Dupont-Walker, Solis, Barger and Bowen) to encourage contractors on Metro construction projects to increase the participation of women by meeting or exceeding the female participation goal of 6.9%. The motion directed the creation of a report card/scorecard system reflecting the attainment of the female participation goals for Metro PLA/CCP contractors that was established to increase visibility and encourage contractors to achieve the 6.9% female participation goal (Attachment D). The scorecard as of June 2025 can be seen in Attachment G, Figure 2.
Staff continues to attend monthly project meetings, as needed, to communicate directly with prime contractors who are not meeting the female participation goal at key milestones of 25%, 50%, and 75% project completion.
In addition, notices are issued to prime contractors to encourage increased female participation on their projects. For contractors receiving a score grade of “D” or below, notices are issued immediately with recommendations to conduct outreach and implement other efforts aimed at improving female participation.
The average female participation on Metro construction projects is currently 3.72% of total work hours 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 the construction building trades is 4.0%.
A chart showing female participation in Metro’s PLA/CCP construction projects over the last four years can be seen in Attachment G, Figure 3
Source: As reported by the prime contractors
During the last quarter reporting period, the completion of the Airport Metro Connector (AMC) Transit Station and Rail to Rail Active Construction Corridor projects contributed to the decrease in the overall female participation rate. The completion of the Regional Connector Transit Corridor project contributed to decreases in recent years as well.
As reflected in the June 2025 board report, staff conducted a workforce disparity study, focused on identifying barriers for women in the construction trades and recommendations on how to increase female representation in the trades. Directors Horvath, Hahn, Dutra, Solis, and Yaroslavsky, issued a subsequent Motion 13.1 (Attachment A) directing staff to advance a regional approach to realize workforce goals.
As described below, staff are actively taking measures to increase female participation and opportunities.
Women Breaking Ground Website (www.womenbreakgound.com)
In March 2024, LA Metro launched the “Women Breaking Ground” website which provides women, who are interested in a career in construction, an avenue for learning how to join an apprenticeship readiness training program and how to get connected to resources.
Through June 2025, over 1,000 individuals have been triaged and given information and resources on starting a career in construction. Over 366 individuals were referred to a pre-apprenticeship training program sponsored by the LAOCBCTC Apprentice Readiness Fund. Thus far, 35 individuals have enrolled in pre-apprenticeship training, 30 have graduated from the program and 5 have been placed on Union Apprenticeship jobs.
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 who are already in the trades to get connected to the unions, contractors, and more resources to be placed on a construction job. It is made available through physical outreach materials and digital marketing ads and is accessible through the Metro careers website that can be located in the promo box titled “Women”, https://www.metro.net/about/careers/women/
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. These efforts spread awareness and sparked interest for women in the region.
C. Ongoing Strategies
Listed below are ongoing strategies being implemented by Metro to increase the overall workforce capacity, with a specific focus on increasing female participation on Metro’s construction projects.
1. Female Participation Score Card – Staff continue 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.
2. Jobs Coordinator Meetings – Staff conduct periodic meetings with job coordinators to discuss best practices and identify outreach and recruitment opportunities.
3. Transition Coordination – Staff work with the unions and jobs coordinators to refer female workers who have completed their previous work assignments to other active Metro construction projects.
4. Women in the Trades Resource Guide (Attachment E) – Staff developed a comprehensive guide to recruit, employ, and retain women in construction careers, to assist prime contractors in recruiting female workers.
5. Collaboration with Unions – Staff 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.
6. Outreach – Staff continue to reach out to community-based organizations, pre-apprenticeship schools, and building trades to promote career opportunities and to increase female recruitment in the construction industry (Attachment F). During this reporting period, Metro staff participated in eight job fairs which resulted in twelve individuals being referred to job coordinators for pre-apprenticeship programs.
The following are long-term strategies and efforts to support workforce needs and to increase female participation on Metro’s projects:
1) 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.
2) 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.
3) 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 establishing an ongoing referral system of individuals to pre-apprenticeship programs available through the LA County DEO network of services.
• The DEO has launched a cohort of regional agencies, including Metro, to participate in a Workforce Subcommittee under Infrastructure Los Angeles. This subcommittee will take a leadership role in advancing workforce development opportunities to support infrastructure projects across the region.
4) Partnerships with the Los Angeles/Orange County Building and Construction Trades Council (LAOCBTC), and its Executive Secretary focused on increasing the workforce in the construction industry, including prioritizing and dispatching female workers on Metro construction projects.
• 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 and has embarked on a Joint Awareness Campaign to promote career opportunities in the construction industry.
5) Metro staff distributed surveys to contractors and their designated jobs coordinators who have met or exceeded higher grades on the female participation scorecard. The goal is to capture success stories and best practices that can be shared across projects.
Summary of survey responses:
Organizations stressed that retaining women in construction depends on sharing success stories, recruiting women of color, and partnering with community groups, training programs, and unions. Programs like Youth-Build, MC3 and STEM/CTE initiatives were seen as effective in engaging women and addressing their concerns, with MC3 apprentices noted as better prepared to succeed. The main challenge is the perception that union bootcamps and heavy civil work are too physically demanding, making female testimonials and clear communication about job expectations critical. While contractors are generally supportive, some face cost or capacity constraints, though none of these challenges were attributed to gender bias.
6) Continued Metro support to facilitate WINTER, and the LA County Justice Care Opportunities Department (JCOD) collaboration to launch its first all-female Pre-Apprentice Construction Readiness training cohort. Due to a delay in the remodeling of the dormitories, the training start was delayed until October 6, 2025. To date, 30 potential trainees have completed the interest program and will attend a virtual orientation hosted by WINTER. Two Journeywoman have been identified and hired as Lead Instructor and Instructor and have been observing the current WINTER cohort in Commerce in preparation to conduct the cohort in Calabasas. Vendors have been identified by WINTER to supply tools and materials needed for the training.
Outreach to High Schools and Youth
Metro DEOD staff are dedicated to partnering with industry leaders to significantly enhance apprenticeship programs to effectively build capacity for present and future projects. Below are impactful activities that the team has implemented to inspire high school and community college students to spark their interest in pursuing rewarding careers in the trades. These efforts will inform and empower the next generation of skilled workers.
1. Over the past quarter, March 2025 through June 2025, Metro DEOD staff conducted outreach at several high schools and community colleges in the Los Angeles region to promote careers in the construction industry. Participating institutions included Compton School, Sunburst Youth Academy, North Hollywood High School, California High School, Pomona High School, Whittier High School, Sierra Vista High School, Pioneer High School, East Los Angeles College, Rio Hondo College, Youth Engagement at Linx, Construction Industry Education Foundation (CIEF), LA City Youth Source, and Metro’s 2025 Women and Girls Summit, Transportation Career Academy Program (TCAP) students, and the SoCal Trades Tour. Metro staff will continue to expand engagement with youth to generate interest in trade and create a pipeline of opportunities. The SEED school is also introducing students to a variety of careers, including those in the infrastructure sector.
2. On July 11, 2025, per the recommendation of Director Solis, staff convened a partnership meeting with both Youth Build and the Conservation Corps, with a path forward where staff will host 3 student field trips to Metro’s new Talent Hub to introduce construction careers.
3. On August 6, 2025, Metro staff conducted a presentation on the Women Breaking Ground website and construction career pathways during Congresswoman Maxine Waters’ outreach event at the Imperial Courts Housing Development in Watts, CA. Hosted by the South Bay Workforce Investment Board (WIB), the event aimed to connect local residents with valuable information about Pre-Apprenticeship Training opportunities, Building Trade Unions, and the Public Works Project. Attendees had the opportunity to engage with representatives from the Plumbers, Cement Masons, and Carpenters Unions, the Los Angeles/Orange County Building Trades Apprentice Readiness Fund, the Career Expansions Pre-Apprentice Training Program, as well as contractors.
4. Metro staff partner with the LAOCBTC Apprentice Readiness Fund as they work with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), to introduce careers in construction through the establishment of a pilot pre-apprenticeship program at the Los Angeles Technology Center on the LAUSD campus with an estimated start date of Summer 2025. An instructor has been identified, and curriculum has been finalized to greenlight the program. Discussions are ongoing between the LAOCBTC Apprentice Readiness Fund and LAUSD to reintroduce MC3 curriculum and certifications on LAUSD High School campuses.
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.
D. Status Update to Board Motion 13.1
During Metro's Board meeting on March 27, 2025, the Board approved Motion 13.1, which was proposed by Directors Horvath, Hahn, Dutra, Solis, and Yaroslavsky (refer to Attachment A). Staff have been actively engaged in implementing, developing, researching, and meeting to advance the following initiatives and recommendations:
1. Expand Cultural Competency Plan requirements to integrate Community Benefits and Workforce Equity Components into RFP procurements.
• DEOD has held several meetings with V/CM and PMO to strategize and identify an approach for incorporating community benefits and a workforce equity component into Metro's existing cultural competency framework. DEOD plans to submit a draft of this proposed language to V/CM and PMO for review and consideration in Fall 2025.
2. Establish a regional roundtable to activate discussions on goal setting for regional public contracting agencies
• Metro’s first Regional Roundtable meeting was hosted on June 24, 2025, with regional workforce contributors in attendance, the meeting objectives were to:
o Discuss Challenges: To examine the challenges and opportunities around attracting and retaining women in the construction workforce;
o Identify Solutions: To collectively identify solutions around attracting and retaining women in the construction workforce;
o Take Action: Implement solutions, either as individual agencies or as a Roundtable.
• Key takeaways Metro learned from the Roundtable meeting were as follows:
o Continued/stronger partnerships with workforce development boards to increase placement into training programs.
o Jointly develop and seek legislative language making workplace harassment an OSHA safety guideline.
o Identify and coordinate cross-agency investments into childcare and supportive services; and develop and implement cross-agency anti-harassment language and gender sensitivity training.
o Identify and implement actions that address retention challenges especially for women and African American workers (last in and first out)
o Regional data-sharing and participation tracking.
o Invite additional representatives (e.g. public agencies, contractors, apprenticeship programs, and State agency representatives) into the conversation.
The next Regional Roundtable meeting is planned for October 2025. Both Los Angeles County Department of Equal Opportunity, and Los Angeles World Airports are the Co-Chairs of the Regional Roundtable collaborative.
3. Conduct a Women in the Trades Regional Summit
• The Women in the Trades Regional Summit will provide the next generation of female construction workers with insights into the benefits of working with trade unions and will connect them to valuable resources. This event aligns with the establishment of a Female Advisory Group as part of the Regional Roundtable. The proposed date for the event is scheduled for Q4FY26.
4. Establish a Female Advisory Group
• Advanced development of draft plan for a Female Advisory Group that will host its own Women in the Trades Regional Summit. The event will allow the future generation of female construction workers to learn about the benefits of working with the Trade Unions and connect them with resources. This will be done in conjunction with the Regional Roundtable described above.
5. Launch a targeted social media campaign (Built by HER!) focused on women, youth, and mentorship opportunities.
The “Built by HER!” campaign launched in July 2025, targeting young women between the ages of 18 to 24, introducing a pipeline to construction careers by way of sourcing future construction workers to the Women Breaking Ground website. Posters have been produced in both English and Spanish and will be distributed to High Schools and Youth Career and Employment programs throughout the Region. Guests of Metro’s Gateway Headquarters building can see the Built by HER! advertisement on the Video Wall that is located on the 3rd level of Metro’s Gateway building outside of the boardroom, which will stream through October 16, 2025. In coordination with the Metro Marketing team, plans to launch the social media effort of this campaign are also planned.
Additionally, as a component of the approved Motion, an amendment by Director Dupont-Walker requested a report back on the status of efforts to address cultural competency requirements for historically underutilized populations, including other cultural sensitivities and disparities. In response to Director Dupont-Walker’s request in Motion 13.1, staff submitted a report on underutilized and underrepresented apprentices in the May 2025 quarterly update. The second part of the analysis will focus on journeyman workers in the same categories, which is underway.
• In April 2025, staff requested additional datasets from the LCP Tracker (a workforce online monitoring system) that include race and ethnicity as an extra variable/column. Although LCP Tracker produced the dataset, it only covered agencies in the five-county region and did not include data for Metro. LCP Tracker is currently working to retrieve the dataset for Metro.
E. Joint Development
Staff met with Metro’s Joint Development team, to discuss potential Joint Development and Childcare opportunities. During the meeting the team discussed future opportunities, plans for ongoing discussions, and the specific responsibilities and roles involved in Metro’s joint developments.
Metro partners with developers through its Joint Development Program to build transit-oriented developments on underutilized land near transit stations. In addition to the development of housing, and in furtherance of Metro’s Gender Action Plan, the ground floor spaces of these projects are opportunities to prioritize household-serving uses at transit stations.
The Joint Development process begins with a site-specific stakeholder survey to understand community desires for the property which includes questions about neighborhood-serving uses such as childcare centers. This community input is captured in Requests for Proposals and becomes part of the criteria against which developer proposals are evaluated. As Metro accelerates its Joint Development efforts to achieve the Board’s goal of growing the joint development portfolio to 10,000 Homes by 2031, as many as 20 new joint development opportunity sites are anticipated throughout the County.
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 community members in the construction industry for workers with historical barriers to employment.
Hundreds of disadvantaged workers have benefited in obtaining a meaningful career through Metro’s PLA/CCP program which resulted in over $129 million in paid wages to disadvantaged workers, from inception to March 2025. For the March – June 2025 reporting period $3.3 million was paid 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 and working with Metro’s Women and Girls Governing Council (WGGC) to continuously uplift women into the construction industry. During the January – March 2025 reporting period staff presented the Workforce Disparity Report, that provided an assessment of the availability of female tradeswoman in the workforce, and recommendations to increase inclusion. Staff are moving forward with the next steps for the report, as directed by Motion 13.1 (Attachment A).
These strategies have contributed to an average female participation rate in Metro construction projects (3.72%) which 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 4%). Additionally, staff monitors each project’s female attainment monthly and assist contractors in continually increase female participation. Furthermore, the response to Motion 13.1 will help staff introduce collaborative mechanisms to increase female participation and identify additional cultural sensitivities and disparities for historically underserved populations as they seek employment in the trades. Expanding upon this response will assist staff in eliminating barriers for employment from these populations.
Vehicle_Miles_Traveled_Outcome
VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED OUTCOME
VMT and VMT per capita in Los Angeles County are lower than national averages, the lowest in the SCAG region, and on the lower end of VMT per capita statewide, with these declining VMT trends due in part to Metro’s significant investment in rail and bus transit. Metro’s Board-adopted VMT reduction targets align with California’s statewide climate goals, including achieving carbon neutrality by 2045. To ensure continued progress, all Board items are assessed for their potential impact on VMT.
While this item does not directly encourage taking transit, sharing a ride, or using active transportation, it is a vital part of Metro operations, as it is the goal of Metro’s PLA/CCP program to provide employment opportunities to economically disadvantaged individuals of Los Angeles County. Because the Metro Board has adopted an agency-wide VMT Reduction Target, and this item supports the overall function of the agency, this item is consistent with the goals of reducing VMT.
*Based on population estimates from the United States Census and VMT estimates from Caltrans’ Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) data between 2001-2019.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Staff will continue to monitor the contractors’ efforts and initiate the various strategies and activities as outlined in this report. Staff will continue to provide updates on actions related to Motion 13.1 within future quarterly PLA/CCP reports.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A – Motion 13.1
Attachment B - PLA/CCP Quarterly Brochure
Attachment C – Active National and Local Hire Charts
Attachment D – Motion 33.1
Attachment E – Women in the Trades Resource Guide
Attachment F – Metro DEOD PLA/CCP Outreach Activities
Attachment G – Additional Data
Prepared By
Prepared by:
Oluwatimilehin (Tim) Famuyibo, Diversity and Economic Opportunity Department
Representative (213) 922-2561
Angela Scott, Principal, Diversity and Economic Opportunity Department (213) 922-1028
Wendy White, Deputy Executive Officer, Diversity and Economic
Opportunity Department (213) 922-2648
Tashai R. Smith, Executive Officer, Diversity and Economic Opportunity
Department (213) 922-2128
Reviewed By
Reviewed by:
Sharon Gookin, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (213) 418-3101
Digitally approved by Stephanie Wiggins, Chief Executive Officer