Photo by Jason Richard on unsplash.com.

A new report shows that the City of Fresno is failing to meet its local labor requirements for capital projects in the city.

Members of the city’s capital projects department will have a workshop at the Fresno City Council meeting Thursday.

The Community Workforce Agreement, which went into effect on Jan. 27, 2022, awarded a total of 26 Project Labor Agreement (PLA) contracts with a total amount $86.9 million through Jan. 31, 2024.

The council approved the agreement in January 2021 by a 6-vote, with City Council Member Garry Bredefeld being the only “no” vote.

Terms of the agreement include an initial 5-year term, review of the local hiring program effectiveness at the 2-year mark, and a requirement of annual reports to city council.

The local hiring program calls for a minimum 50% of journey-level project work hours be completed by City of Fresno residents.

According to this year’s annual review, the city was short of the mark with only 42% of journeymen being a Fresno resident.

The program also requires a minimum 55% of apprentice-level project work hours by city residents. The city met 30% of that goal for existing apprentices, according to the report.

There is a 30% goal of apprentice-level project work hours to be performed by new local apprentices, but only 23% of that goal was met.

The agreement’s provisions apply to construction contracts with engineer’s estimates of $1 million and greater — with some exclusions.

Another key provision recognizes local unions as the sole bargaining representatives.

A total of 15 PLA contracts have been awarded, with five of those contracts completed between Feb. 1, 2023, to Jan. 31, 2024.  

The Fresno, Madera, Kings and Tulare Counties Building and Construction Trades Council were provided written notice of the failure to meet the percentage requirements in July 2024.

There are 95 projects in the pipeline with an award date of Fiscal Year 2025 or later, and 51 of those will have a total cost of $1 million-plus.

The sum of all the 95 projects is $409.6 million.

The PLA includes five public trail projects, six traffic signal projects, eight large structures, 18 utility infrastructure projects, 22 parks and 36 roadway projects.

The three-year annual PLA report will be released in February 2025, and if the PLA targets are not met, the City of Fresno will issue the trades council another written notice.

The city and trades council may explore potential changes to the local hiring program to improve outcomes and meet percentage requirements.