Los Angeles Officials Sign Off on $1.5-Billion Project Labor Agreement for Port Projects

After months of negotiations, the Los Angeles City Council, Los Angeles Harbor Commission and labor leaders joined Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in signing a five-year Project Labor Agreement (PLA) for Port of Los Angeles construction projects beginning this fall.

According to port spokesman Phillip Sanfield, the PLA will serve as a blanket agreement between the Harbor Department and the laborers trade unions affiliated with the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council (LIUNA) working on the designated capital improvement projects. The PLA covers 95% of the port’s projected $1.5 billion five-year capital budget. Approximately 20,000 jobs are expected to be created in the region under the agreement, including at least 30% – totaling approximately 6,000 jobs – for local residents and 10% – or 2,000 jobs – for disadvantaged workers.

Previously, the port would negotiate a PLA for each individual project. Sanfield says that 42 projects are encompassed in the new PLA.

“The first six are slated in the next 12-18 months,” he says. “Those include waterfront enhancements at Cabrillo Beach, alternative maritime power (cold-ironing or ship to shore power) at container terminals (berths 302-305 and 212-216), and San Pedro waterfront harbor cuts as part of waterfront redevelopment initiative.”

Projects under the PLA range from $8 million to $9 million up to $150 million.

Provisions of the port-wide PLA include a no-strike/no-lockout clause, standardized work rules for all covered trades, a uniform dispute-resolution mechanism, a training and apprentice program, and a requirement for all contractors working on a project to pay prevailing wages and benefits, and hire most labor through local union hiring halls.