A project labor agreement (PLA) signed to ensure local residents the majority of work on the District of Columbia’s new $611-million baseball stadium has failed completely, according to a new report released Oct. 2 by the District Economic Empowerment Coalition (DEEC).
The “Broken Promises, Big Losses” study details how none of the 56 contractors on the project met the four stipulations of the PLA. The agreement, which was signed in March 2006 by former Washington, D.C. mayor Anthony Williams, local construction trade unions, the project’s construction manager and the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, mandates that 50 percent of journeyperson hours be performed by D.C. workers; 100 percent of apprenticeships go to city residents; at least 25 percent of total work hours be performed by apprentices; and 51 percent of all new hires be D.C. residents.
“The construction of this stadium has been a disaster for the District of Columbia,” said Ted Trabue, DEEC executive director. “Not one contractor subject to this PLA has achieved all four goals. This was a tremendous opportunity for D.C. residents, and they have been forced to watch from the dugout as outside workers take desperately needed jobs on a project funded by their own tax dollars.”
According to the report, non-D.C. residents have worked 506,926 journeyperson hours (71.1 percent of total journeyperson hours), while D.C. resident have worked just 206,444 journeyperson hours (28.9 percent), far below the PLA requirement that D.C. residents work 50 percent of total journeyperson hours. Additionally, the study found that half of the contractors involved in the project have hired no new apprentices, and of those companies that have hired new trainees, only 17 (of 56) have met the PLA requirement that 100 percent of new apprenticeships go to D.C. residents.
“This report details how the guarantees of the PLA—and the interests of Washingtonians—have been ignored,” said Trabue. “It is disappointing that the contractors and unions involved on this important project did not devote the necessary time and energy to job recruitment, and the city did not provide the oversight needed to ensure that the residents of D.C. would not be left out in the cold.”
Click here to download a copy of the “Broken Promises, Big Losses” study.
For more information, contact Ted Trabue at DEEC, ted.trabue@dceec.org.