On April 12, 2016, the elected board of trustees of the Central Unified School District in Fresno considered but rejected a union-backed proposal to excluding apprentices from on-the-job training opportunities on district projects unless they were represented by a union in a union-affiliated training program.

Now the unions have decided they just want control of all the construction contract workers, not just the apprentices.

Tonight (Tuesday, February 12), the elected board of trustees of the Central Unified School District in Fresno will discuss imposing a mandate for construction companies to sign a Project Labor Agreement with unions in order to work on an upcoming taxpayer-funded high school project. No staff report or other background information has been provided to the board or the public. (The only thing the board needs to know is that union leaders want it.)

See Item L21: February 12 Central Unified School District Board Meeting Agenda

Unions claim their workforce is very busy in the San Joaquin Valley, in part because they have a monopoly on construction for the California High-Speed Rail project. Are they guaranteeing work for out-of-area union members, or are they afraid that California High-Speed Rail construction is doomed? Or is this Project Labor Agreement an "organizing tool" to force local construction companies to sign union agreements in order to stay in business?

Our guess: all three answers are correct.