AMERICA'S CUP "GOOD FAITH" JOBS PLAN DEBATED AT SF CITY HALL
Community Groups and Building Trade Unions Secure Prevailing Wage Requirements, Press For Local Hiring Commitment
SAN FRANCISCO, February 2-Those
in search of further evidence of the death of "good faith efforts"
local hiring in San Francisco need look no further than
yesterday's City Hall hearing on the proposed America's Cup jobs plan.
At the Board of Supervisors Budget
Committee, over 60 community advocates, workers of color, and labor
leaders came out in support of a longstanding demand for use of the
City's local hiring and prevailing wage policies on
construction jobs to be created by the America's Cup. Thousands
of jobs will be created as the America's Cup reconstructs the San
Francisco waterfront and builds temporary spectator seating and an
"America's Cup village."
Community groups joined the
Laborers, Carpenters, and Operating Engineers
unions and Supervisors John Avalos, Jane Kim, and Carmen Chu, to win an
across-the-board prevailing wage commitment to guarantee quality jobs
and career opportunities on America's Cup permanent and temporary
construction.
Local hiring was another story.
America's Cup
proposed a plan
centered around the throwback era of "good faith efforts" local hiring,
in which no contractor was ever penalized for failing to hire local and
disadvantaged residents in the forty-year history of "good faith." In
late 2010, community advocates, labor leaders, workers, contractors,
environmentalists, civil rights groups, and a broad cross-section of
policy makers came together to craft the San Francisco Local Hiring
Policy for Construction as a response to the failure of good faith. The
law was authored by Supervisor Avalos, and Mayor Edwin Lee has made
"aggressively implementing San Francisco's landmark Local Hire
Ordinance" part of his 17-point jobs
plan.
Dozens
of speakers, including representatives of the Coalition of Black Trade
Unionists, the A. Philip Randolph Institute, Chinese for Affirmative
Action, Laborers Local 261, Carpenters Local 22, Mission Hiring Hall,
the Greenlining Institute, Coleman Advocates for Youth and Children, the
San Francisco Conservation Corps, Brightline, Anders & Anders
Foundation, and the San Francisco Green Party, called for the America's
Cup to
promote workforce inclusion through the City's local hiring policy instead of rolling back the clock to failed "good faith efforts." After
a debate about whether the America's Cup, which organizers concede is
funded by public dollars, is a public, private, or quasi-public project,
the public overwhelmingly called for the America's Cup Event
Authority to step up to utilize the City's policy rather than
re-inventing a new "good faith" plan.
No one spoke in opposition to the notion.
"These
are relationships we have that are financial that there's a mutual
benefit that I think
we can extend for this event that can actually ring out to our
neighborhoods, our labor organizations, our community members here in
San Francisco," said Supervisor Avalos, after lauding the America's
Cup's commitment to prevailing wage. "I really hope that the Event
Authority can come together with these groups on the very last part of
this agreement, the workforce development plan, to look at how we can
get the local hire ordinance to come through here."
"I
think we've heard it loud and clear today that 'good faith' efforts
often haven't worked in previous projects," said Supervisor Jane Kim.
"I certainly look forward to working with the Event Authority to make
these promises stronger both to our communities and our neighborhoods
that will be impacted by the event itself."
Supervisor
Chu noted, "We want to see the America's Cup be successful...one good
way to do that is to make sure we are hiring, we are involving our
residents on many levels."
Espanola
Jackson, often called the Godmother of Bayview-Hunters Point, noted
that "Good faith efforts has never worked for workers of color in San
Francisco. We have no faith in good faith."
"America's
Cup is truly
symbolic for the City, to be able to host an international sports event
and the economic development it will bring," said Chinese for
Affirmative Action director of community initiatives Jenny Lam. "We
want to recognize that it's an important step to commit to prevailing
wage across the board. At the same time, we believe 'good faith' has
failed. We believe the best way to realize the America's Cup hiring
goals is to embrace the City's local hiring policy."
"'Good
faith efforts' at best
is a catch-up system. It takes a lot of money, a lot of effort to
really, really deliver on. This local ordinance cuts through all of
that," said Don Marcos, executive director of Mission Hiring Hall. "We
have to promote this ordinance, because it is the one that will actually accomplish the goals of the compliance program."
"I
support the adoption of
local hiring and prevailing wage on the America's Cup. Local hiring
tends to help local businesses and local residents," said Florence Kong,
president of Kwan Wo Ironworks, who also noted that her construction
projects in Stockton require 50-75% local hiring under that city's
policy.
"I
want to commend the Authority for sitting down and talking to us, and
accepting the basic crafts' proposal," said David De La Torre,
secretary-treasurer of
Laborers Union, Local 261. "However, I am disappointed that there is a
disagreement between the semantics of 'good faith' and
mandatory...given the history of good faith, it's a failed policy. It
hasn't worked then and I'm not so confident it will work on this
project."
"The community came together to pass a new
local hiring law as response to the concerns and ambiguities of good
faith," said James Bryant, Western Director for the A. Philip Randolph
Institute community-labor partnership. "Prevailing wage means that now
we can expect good-paying union jobs. But 'good faith' did not work for
women and our low-income communities of color," said APRI San Francisco
executive director Jacqueline Flin.
"There's
no question that the need for jobs, jobs with prevailing wages exists
in San Francisco," said Chelsea Boilard, director of programs with
Coleman Advocates for Youth and Children.
"Whether
because the public is paying for pieces of the America's Cup, or
because the City is giving cheap waterfront leases to the America's Cup,
or because of the America's Cup vision of inclusion and showcasing the
best of San Francisco, we expect the America's Cup to step up and
embrace local hiring just as they have finally embraced prevailing
wage," said Brightline executive director Joshua Arce, who worked with
Supervisor Avalos and other advocates to develop the City's new local
hire law.
The City's local hiring policy currently covers $60 million of construction projects, including the
Pier 27 Cruise Ship terminal which broke ground this week, which all have on average come in under budget, plus another $300 million currently open for bid.
Community
and labor groups, as well as all three Budget Committee
Supervisors, appear to have sent a clear signal of support for use of
the local hiring law on the America's Cup.
# # #
Brightline Defense Project is
a non-profit policy advocacy organization dedicated to protecting and
empowering communities. Brightline's efforts have included campaigns
to shut down dirty fossil fuel power plants in Southeast
San Francisco, promote local renewable energy, and develop local hiring
policies and community workforce agreements to increase blue-collar and
green-collar employment opportunities for residents of economically
disadvantaged neighborhoods and environmental justice communities.
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